Disconnected
by Rogue A.I
Summary: When all Kenji wants to do is escape 'The World' after having quit two years ago, he is surrounded by people who play it. What can an ex-hero do to get a bit of peace when he keeps meeting his online friends offline?
1. To dream of Kite

A/N: I waded through the small deluge of new fanfics in the .hack section over the Christmas/New Year period with horror and felt motivated enough to write a rebuttal to all the GU fics turning up. I hope to keep this going for a few chapters yet. I have used knowledge about characters' real names and ages to the best of my ability, but have used artistic license to name characters whose names are not mentioned in canon. If there are any mistakes, I will gladly correct them if they're pointed out to me. Anyway, onwards with the fic.

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything regarding or related to the .hack franchise. It all belongs to its respective owners._

**Chapter One: To dream of Kite**

It was Christmas Eve, the time when a significant amount of men hurry out for last minute gifts. The current unlucky person on duty in the department store's electronics section was a teenage boy with scruffy brown hair. He looked bored, but that was his usual expression. It had been a rush, but there was just over an hour before closing time and the myriad customers seemed to be returning home. His current thoughts rested with trivial matters- when he got home he had to tidy his room for family members coming to stay, what he was going to have for dinner, had otou-san completed his shopping and so on.

"Excuse me, do you sell FMDs?" The boy's attention was diverted from his thoughts to the anxious customer before him, a middle-aged man. "They're-" The boy cut him off boredly,

"Face Mounted Displays. Yes, we do. They're currently well-hidden in the peripherals section. Follow me." These FMDs looked like futuristic visors with headphones built in and were used for playing the wildly popular MMORPG 'The World'. As they weaved through sections, passing plasma-screen TVs and laptops, the man turned to the boy, still agitated.

"I'm not sure exactly what I'm after...you see, my wife...she bought a copy of this game for my son...didn't tell me until yesterday. I thought I should...you know, contribute to a present...so I had to look it up. They use one of these Face Mounted...things, so I heard." Finally they arrived and concealed between computer mice and scanners were a few boxes of FMDs. The boy asked,

"So, is your wife getting the controller that goes with it?" All colour drained out of the man's face as he realised that he was getting out of his depth.

"Controller?" The boy replied calmly,

"Basically, to play the game, you need three things." He held up his index, middle and ring finger, ticking them off as he listed them. "One: a copy of the game. Which your wife has bought, so that's solved. Two: a controller to play the game. Three: an FMD to make your son's gaming experience that more immersing. Oh, and the FMD is optional- he can play watching his screen like any other game." The man had to stop and think as the options were presented to him. After a few minutes, he answered slowly.

"I think...she can give him the game, I'll give him the controller and the FMD can be our joint present." The boy anticipated his next question,

"We sell those too, let me find you one." He walked further down the aisle and selected a decent one for a decent price, bringing it back as the man stared at the boxes of FMDs like a lost child. "If you want a recommendation, I'd choose the SONES Neuro Goggles. It's got a hundred hours of battery life, which means that your son won't have to be plugged in all the time. They're comfortable enough and I'm sure that they're safe." The boy picked up a box containing the particular brand he'd selected and handed it to the man, placing the smaller controller box on top. The man looked as if he'd been saved from certain doom and as they returned to the till, he poured out his thanks.

"Thanks so much for your help...invaluable. You see...what with the rush...you know, it being Christmas Eve and all." The boy nodded and vaulted over the counter, landing behind the till.

"It's no problem. Let me scan those in for you." As he used the bar code scanner, the till alerted him to something and the corners of his mouth turned upwards. "Ah, there's a Christmas offer! Buy an FMD and you'll get a controller half-price." The man now looked as if he'd been visited by angels.

"Wonderful! Here..." He scrambled to get out his credit card and the transaction was made swiftly. "I assume that you play the game yourself...you certainly seem knowledgeable about it." The small smile on the boy's face turned bitter.

"You could say that. I used to play it. Have a good Christmas and I hope your son enjoys his present." The boy then dropped his voice, handing over a receipt. "If your son finds fault with any of them, remember that if he doesn't rip apart the plastic packaging inside and has enough sticky tape to seal the box back up again-" He spoke normally again, "He'll have 28 days to return it unopened and can either get a refund or gift vouchers of equal value." The man looked shocked at his blatant disregard for company conduct, but then winked at him.

"You have a good Christmas too! And a Happy New Year! Thanks again for the help!" As the man hurried off, the boy's co-worker appeared from the break room.

"Whoa, what did you do, Kenji? That man looked as if you saved him from some kind of grisly future!" Kenji smirked.

"Last minute Christmas present involving a certain computer game and the baffling world of peripherals." Kenji's co-worker stared at him, wide-eyed,

"Ah, The World? I didn't know that you played it." Kenji was all too quick to deny it,

"I don't, Shirogawa, I don't." His co-worker folded his arms, eyeing him carefully.

"Then how come that man had a quality FMD and controller when he walked out of that shop? Only a player of 'The World' would know enough to recommend them. If he'd have been left on his own, he would probably have picked up the first ones he came across." Kenji shrugged coolly.

"I've had enough people in for Christmas presents to know a little. Half the people already play the game and are purchasing the complete package for friends and loved ones, so they come in demanding 'I need an FMD, but not any FMD. Give me the Neuro Goggles! You know, SONES makes them. Oh, and I want a Miasma 400 controller, don't be palming off poor-quality controllers onto me.'" His tones were sarcastic as he mimicked a few of the customers he had met. Shirogawa shook his head woefully.

"Has anyone told you that you're too sarcastic for a sixteen year old?" Kenji simply laughed at him and Shirogawa glared back at the youth. "Honestly. I think that if you did play 'The World', you could learn a lot from it." Kenji suddenly turned his piercing gaze on Shirogawa.

"Oh? I'm listening." Shirogawa could hear that this was a dangerous subject as he could hear the menace in Kenji's voice. However, he wouldn't be cowed by anything short of a sixteen year old youth with a guardian in tow or an even younger child with blades mounted on his wrists.

"Friendship and how to socialise, helping those in need and general...well, chivalry, for want of a better name. What else...hm..." He trailed off, deep in thought. Kenji was now fully glaring at him.

"What right do you have to assume that I'm unskilled in all of those things? You're a work colleague and the only time you see me is when we're both on the same shift! How can you possibly assume from a few hours every week? Oh, and you forgot something in your little list: teamwork." Shirogawa was taken aback by his ferocity, but at Kenji's mention of teamwork, he was triumphant.

"Aha! What do you mean by teamwork?" Kenji replied coldly,

"Well, you should know if you play 'The World' all the time. A whole part of the gameplay is being in a party of up to three players. How else do you expect players to get through the dungeons? Alone? I think not, not unless they're level...ninety-nine and they're going through a much lower-level dungeon." Shirogawa smiled craftily.

"And did your customers tell you all this?" Kenji was forced from the attack to defence.

"I've read reviews of it on gaming sites." Shirogawa nodded drily.

"Mhm, sure. Sounds to me like you know a lot more than you let on. So, what's your player name?" Kenji shook his head,

"Alright, so I used to play. But I quit two years ago and I have no intention of playing again." Shirogawa sighed mournfully.

"Isn't that the way...everyone quits in the end, some earlier than others. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of friends I know who still play. There used to be a good number of us." Kenji looked at Shirogawa, curiosity in his eyes.

"Do you still play it?" Shirogawa shook his head.

"I quit about a year ago." Kenji frowned- this didn't add up.

"But you just raved about 'The World' like you were a real fan. Why would you just quit?"

Shirogawa glanced at him craftily,

"Why should I tell you if you won't tell me?" Kenji growled, backed into a corner.

"Urgh...alright, I'll tell you if you tell me first." Just as Shirogawa opened his mouth, two people approached the counter. Kenji's co-worker stared at the people, his face lighting up.

"Salu! No, forgive me, I do know your name...ah, Shouta! It's been a long time." The young man, Shouta, seemed delighted at being recognised.

"Sil-"

"Please call me Kyou." Shirogawa smiled encouragingly at Shouta, cutting him off before he could reveal Shirogawa's PC name in 'The World'. Kenji watched the scene unfold, eyebrows raised.

"Kyou-san! I thought you worked in a game store..." Shouta was evidently confused and Shirogawa shrugged, palms raised.

"It's not quite enough to cover bills. So now I work here and put in a few hours a week part-time at the game store." Shouta nodded, understanding Shirogawa's quandary.

"I see. I actually came here to look for a new computer with my friend Kouwa-san." Shirogawa eyed them, amused.

"Let's see...correct me if I'm wrong, but you're...19, Shouta. Yes? Ah, young love." Shouta stopped nodding and immediately blushed. Kouwa took off her glasses and cleaned them on her skirt to hide her own embarrassment. Kenji elbowed Shirogawa none too gently and turned to Kouwa,

"So, you're looking for a new computer?" Kouwa nodded shyly.

"I want one with more RAM and processing power...to play games on." Kouwa didn't look like the type who played computer games, with her rather long hair, the aforementioned glasses and long skirt and blouse. Kenji nodded.

"Right. Shirogawa knows more about computers than I do. He can find you what you're after." As Shirogawa was called upon to help Kouwa, Kenji nudged him painfully in the ribs and gave him a glare that warned him against making similar comments to embarrass Shouta. It was almost closing time when the trio reappeared, lugging boxes slowly. Kenji smiled at them in a friendly way though his eyes lacked warmth. "I'll ring this up for you then." They put the boxes on the counter and Kenji scanned the barcodes. A monitor, the machine itself and a mouse. The employee made small talk as he sorted out the till. "So, a Christmas present to yourself?" Kouwa nodded, amused.

"I guess you could say that. I've been saving up for a few years and I can take this thing to university." Kenji grinned slyly at her.

"Let me guess, you made yourself an excuse- I'll do work on it as well, it's for work purposes...it just happens to be capable of running games and I happen to own some games...all work and no play, hm?" Kouwa giggled, hand to her mouth.

"Well, I'd only be playing 'The World'!" Shirogawa was watching Kenji this time, and dislike flitted across his face almost too quickly to spot. Shirogawa's co-worker then styled his face into its prior look with some effort.

"Ah, I see. Big fan?" Suddenly Kenji's superior, Hashimoto appeared, coming to tell them it was time to shut shop. Kouwa replied quietly,

"You could say that..." Shouta turned to look at her,

"You didn't tell me you played! What's your character name?" She looked uncomfortable at having to answer.

"Um, it's Ouka." Shouta smiled at her.

"That's a nice name. Next time I play I'll look you up!" Evidently his reponse wasn't expected, and she relaxed. Kenji finished processing her purchase and Kouwa and Shouta managed to leave with the boxes. It was then that Shirogawa and Kenji noticed Hashimoto's wide eyes. He was frozen, his eyes fixed to the spot where Kouwa had stood.

"T-that...s-she...no..." Shirogawa frowned at him. Then he jabbed his finger wildly at where she had stood, hissing, "_That was the player behind Ouka of the Divine Fist!" _Shirogawa politely looked impressed and Kenji shrugged, shutting down the till. Hashimoto was reasonably lax when it came to discipline and Kenji often got away with snide remarks in his presence.

"Great." Kenji answered without enthusiasm and went into the back room, going to pick up his jacket and the personal possessions in it. Shirogawa asked, always willing to humour people,

"Ouka of the Divine Fist? Sounds powerful." Hashimoto's jaw dropped when he realised that Shirogawa had no idea who this 'Ouka' was.

"She's one of _the _most powerful players in 'The World'! She's one of very few werewolves-" Shirogawa frowned, cutting him off,

"Werewolves? What is that, some kind of class? There were only six classes when I played." Hashimoto explained kindly,

"There's a class called Knuckle Master. These people fight with their fists and feet. Anyway, by obtaining some kind of quest item, they can use it to change their class to werewolf! It's like an elite class." Then Hashimoto recalled that Shirogawa had said that in his time, Knuckle Masters didn't exist.

"Wait, so you played 'The World'?" Shirogawa nodded, an uncharacteristically bittersweet smile on his face.

"Yes. Played- past tense." Hashimoto folded his arms speculatively.

"What was your PC name? I might have heard of you, I tend to spend a good amount of time on the message board." Shirogawa checked that Kenji wasn't behind him before answering,

"Silver Knight." Hashimoto didn't react and after a few minutes of silence, his left eye twitched. Then he pointed an accusing finger at Shirogawa,

"You're the reason why my friend quit! Your Crimson Knights intimidated him because they thought he was a hacker! The administrators found him to be perfectly legal!" Shirogawa folded his arms.

"That was in the past. I was...well, I was a jerk back then." Hashimoto conceded the point, replying thoughtfully,

"Well, you're not so bad offline, Shirogawa-san. Well, people change." Kenji promptly emerged from the break room, his aqua eyes darting from Hashimoto to Shirogawa suspiciously.

"Are you two up to something?" Evidently they looked shifty enough, and Hashimoto answered quickly,

"No! We were just talking about 'The World'. Shirogawa-san used to play none other than the leader of the Crimson Knights himself! Silver Knight!"

Kenji looked blank and said slowly,

"Good for him..." He turned away to check that he'd switched off the till and, if it was even possible, Hashimoto was even more horrified.

"You d-don't know who Silver Knight is? Nothing about the Crimson Knights?" Kenji shrugged.

"Nope. All I know is that I seem to be surrounded by the damn game. I quit for a reason."

Before anyone could ask, he had left the first floor and descended down the stairs. Hashimoto whispered to Shirogawa,

"So he used to play...we should try to find out about it!" Shirogawa almost poked him in the ribs before remembering that Hashimoto was his superior.

"You don't need to whisper: he's not here..."

* * *

Kenji wrapped the scarf around his neck once more and rubbed his hands together. It was bitterly cold and growing darker by the minute. He just wanted to get home and warm up. While he usually put up with discussion of 'The World', so much of it in one day had soured his mood. If he was unlucky, and he probably would be, Shirogawa would press him about it. He had been unfortunate enough to play at one of the most dangerous times of the game's history, when players had fallen into comas and almost never regained consciousness. He had played through those tough times and his best friend had been put into a coma. As soon as the affair was solved and everyone regained consciousness, Kenji had shelved the game and never looked back. He initially had regrets about severing contact with online friends that had become dear to him, but it was only a game in the end.

He reached his house eventually and as soon as he was through the door, he slammed it shut to avoid the cold.

"Tadaima." He called, kicking off his shoes and removing his scarf. He greeted his mother and went straight up to his room. He was tired, grumpy and fed up, so perhaps a nap would help or just some time to himself. The first thing he did was to sit on his computer chair and check his emails. The most recent one made his heart jump and his lips twitch.

_From: BlackRose_

_To: Kite_

_Subject: Christmas_

_Dear Kite,_

_If you read this, Merry Christmas! If not, I...well, there's no point writing anything else. Everyone misses you, you know, Mistral, Elk, Wiseman, even Balmung (though he won't admit it!) It's been almost two years since you disappeared. Wiseman thinks that you've quit now you've got Yasuhiko back. How is he? I understand that he's still kicking around with Balmung, though they both spend a lot of time reminiscing about their adventures with you. _

Kenji snorted involuntarily. Shortly after Yasuhiko had regained consciousness, they had fallen out over 'The World'. He didn't want Yasuhiko to play anymore in case anything else happened and Yasuhiko had called him-

_"Hypocrite! You're always playing with your friends, never doing anything else." Kenji whirled around, glaring with all the hate he could muster._

_"I spent all my time on that game to wake you up! I sacrificed my time, my social life and my school grades to save you! You didn't have to be grateful, it's what friends are for, but how dare you turn on me and accuse me of all this! Besides," He turned his back on Yasuhiko, "I'm quitting. From now." There was silence, and Yasuhiko replied quietly,_

_"I am grateful, you know that. You saved my life, even when everyone and everything was against you and the going was impossible. But now you've become a coward." Kenji stiffened as if he had been stabbed._

_"What do you mean?" Every word was layered with venom. Yasuhiko explained himself resolutely,_

_"You of all people...I thought you were brave. You took on that bracelet, used its destructive power for good, fought when the odds were insurmountable against Corbenik. If anyone could defend himself, it's you. And you're turning your back on the game and running away like a frightened child." Kenji's shouting took him by surprise._

_"I __**am **__a child, that's the whole point! I took on a role even most adults would shy away from. I've been through so much; so much pressure on me, system administrators baying for my blood...and all the anger of my parents when I wasn't doing work, when I was staying up until three in the morning just to defeat a Data Bug or press on with trying to wake you up!" Yasuhiko managed to retort,_

_"Then surely you should value the peace you fought for by still playing! I certainly will. You've done great things, please appreciate them!" Kenji's voice held both finality and sarcasm in it._

_"I'm quitting 'The World' today. If that makes me a coward, then so be it. Just don't expect this coward to come running to you when things get tough. Remember, I'm a coward, there's nothing I can do for you." He left Yasuhiko shaken, watching his retreating form speechlessly._

"Yeah, like Yasu would reminisce about it." Kenji murmured bitterly. Since that fight, they hadn't spoken and the time around Christmas was a painful time for him. The anniversary of Aura's birth, Yasuhiko's awakening, that great big fight. He continued to read the email.

_I hope things are going well offine for you. How is school? I guess you'd be in your first year of high school- is it working out? I'm currently in my last year of high school, which means university next year. I'm planning to do sports or something like that...it's a scary thought, going to university. It's a big change in life! Anyway, if you do read this, you don't have to log onto 'The World'- you can send an email anytime to let us know how you're doing. Even Helba passes on her best wishes!_

_If I don't email you again, have a Happy New Year too. 2013 is going to be another year packed full of events, even though some people say 13 is an unlucky number. The way I see it, the world didn't end in 2012 like those nutjob conspiracy theorists or whoever said, so onwards we go! If you do read this, get your ass in gear and reply!_

_BlackRose_

Kenji smirked at the last sentence. That was more like the BlackRose he knew. His own plan for 2013 involved getting through the year day by day, just like the previous few. On good days, he'd even be happy rather than content. On bad days, it would take all his willpower not to snatch the computer and write an essay to BlackRose. Part of his reasoning sided with the idea that if he ignored BlackRose, she wouldn't have a reason to play 'The World' anymore, quit and stay safe. Another part of it thought that it would be less painful to quit the game if he completely cut all ties. His cursor hovered over the reply button before he shut the computer down. Turning to look out the window, he saw a single snowflake drift down from the sky followed by several more. He stood up and threw himself down on his bed lifelessly. When he closed his eyes, he could see himself decked in orange with yellow markings, gloves on his hands, hat on his head, pulsating green mass of hexagons on his wrist. He decided that he would take a nap, and hoped that he wouldn't dream of Kite as he had done numerous times before...


	2. Lycoris radiata

A/N: Here's chapter two- thanks for the feedback! I'll do my best to keep writing :)

A Naginata, to put it crudely, is a spear. Imagine a katana on the end of a pole and that's pretty close to what it looks like. Wikipedia has more info! Also, see if you can guess who Kite meets in this chapter! Two of the people are really obvious, but the third one might be less so. Also, apologies for the gratuitous abuse of commas and dream sequences.

_Disclaimer: See chapter one. I don't own anything!_

**Chapter Two: Lycoris radiata**

_"Kite....Kite..." A voice drifted through the air. "Awaken..." The twin blade opened his aqua eyes slowly. He was laying in the middle of a completely white field, except for gashes in the ground once made by a being set on destruction. Sitting up, he raised his gloved hands to his face. _

_"..." It had been too long since he had done anything. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done a dungeon run, bought new equipment...socialised with his friends. Getting to his feet, he quickly shielded his eyes as a blinding light became visible above him. The voice that echoed through the field was the one that had just addressed him and originated from the light._

_"Kite..." His heart leapt as he realised just who was addressing him._

_"Aura?" He asked, lowering his arms. The light dimmed and a girl between childhood and adulthood hovered before him, a benign smile on her face._

_"It has been a long time since you have graced Mac Anu. How do you fare?" This Aura was different from the one he'd fought so much for. That Aura only spoke of Morganna's plans and the comatose players, a worried tone in her voice and expression. This Aura was far more...sentient, for want of a better word. Kite smiled back softly._

_"Yes, too long."_

_" But you do not change. You do not grow taller as the seasons pass, you are ageless and ravaging time passes you by." Aura spoke wisely, and grew serious. "But I have a message not for Kite, but for Kenji." Her solemn gaze met Kite's eyes. "It has been two years...one day, I will no longer be needed in this world, and I will return to the wind, distancing myself from my divine origins. I want you to treasure the years remaining...will you come and see me before I leave? I fear that when I leave, bad things may happen...but there will be no more that I can give to the world. As my knight, I believe that you may dampen the impact when I depart, fight off anything that ensues. You proved yourself to me many times over in defeating Mother's Phases. Can you do this for me?" Kite's eyes held sorrow as he replied,_

_"I would gladly do it, but you know that Kenji will not allow me to live again. My existence is confined to storage on a distant server." Aura shook her head in disappointment-_

_

* * *

_

Kenji sat bolt upright, pupils dilated and drops of sweat trickling down the side of his forehead. Cursing 'The World' and all its players, he laid back down. His breaths were ragged and his mind distracted. Suddenly his door opened and he squinted at the figure in the doorway- his mother.

"Kenji, it's nearly eleven o'clock! I'd have thought that you would have been awake by now. Merry Christmas!" With that message of festive cheer, she left him to his thoughts. He figured that there was no point trying to sleep again and realised that with that dream, he'd forgotten that it was Christmas Day today! He got up and paced over to the mirror sluggisly. Parts of his fringe were stuck to his forehead and he looked distinctly pale. Suddenly the image before him swam, changing into a youth with green hair, aqua eyes like his and orange baggy clothing.

_'It's Aura's birthday today. Happy birthday, Aura,' _Kenji recoiled instinctively,

"What the hell are you doing in my mirror?! Get out!" The youth remained unruffled by his aggression.

'_You can see your reflection in the mirror. I'm a part of you, so why shoudn't I be reflected?' _Kenji shook his head, laughing self-deprecatingly.

"That part of my life is over. The book is closed. _Owari da." _Kite watched him in the mirror levelly, no judgement or accusation in his eyes.

'_But it's an undeniable part of your life, isn't it? So why try to escape? I know that you miss your friends, my friends. They __**do **__exist offline, you know that, right? Though their PCs are just pixels, they're digital reflections of the people in real life...like a mirror.' _Kenji was determined not to let the sensible twin blade talk him round.

"It's dangerous-" Kite raised his right wrist, a heroic smile on his face. Kenji's eyes were drawn to it.

'_Not after we cleaned up the last Data Bug from the system. With this, we can take anything on. Even if something unexpected comes along, we can handle it! After the Phases, we knew that nothing could scare us.' _Kenji knew that by _this, _Kite meant the Twilight Bracelet. It had defended them and their party members against being put into comas and destroyed invincible foes. He smiled bitterly,

"...I've changed. I'm not who I was. I can't play it again. I'm not you, and you can see it." Kite reached a hand out to Kenji.

'_You don't think you're sociable anymore. You don't think you'd help a stranger in need like you helped Terajima Ryoko out of that high-level dungon. You don't think you're a hero.'_ The mention of one of his friend's names was enough to weaken him and Kenji replied with pleading tones, something that was very seldom heard.

"But it's true! Look how I've changed! Look how I treated Yasuhiko. Don't make me play 'The World' again..." Kite stretched his hand out further, waiting for Kenji to take it. "Please, Kite..." Speaking his PC's name out loud shook him, and he reached out like a drowning man, intending to take Kite's hand-

His fingertips brushed the mirror and he looked up to see his own disturbed expression staring back at him. At last, he shook his head and laughed under his breath. "I'm not awake yet...I must be deprived of sleep." He then went to his bed, dragging some presents out from under it. He went to his bedroom door, glancing back over his shoulder at the mirror in consternation. Nothing was out of the ordinary and he went downstairs, fears assuaged.

* * *

Kenji's eyes lingered on the telephone as he wondered whether it was worth debating with himself as to whether he should call Yasuhiko and apologise for everything...no, Yasuhiko had been pretty horrible to him. It wasn't worth it. At least this year his parents hadn't bought him anything that could be used with the computer. Last year, they got him a new FMD to play 'The World'. He had to feign delight; the FMD was sold on a few months later, after long enough for his parents to forget that they'd given it to him. Dinner wasn't ready for a few more hours and Kenji felt restless.

"Kaa-san, I'm going out for a walk, I'll be back later." His mother called in from the kitchen,

"Alright. Dinner's at six!" Entering the hall and pulling a coat from a coat-hook, he prepared himself against the bitter cold. When he was wrapped up warm in a scarf, gloves and coat, he opened the door and headed out. It wasn't bitterly cold and his layers kept him warm, so he decided to head to the park. When he reached it, he was surprised to notice that even today, a group of boys were playing football, kicking the ball around. He had nowhere particular in mind to go, so he sat down on the bench, eyes tracing their movements absently. Kenji remembered when he had played football. He and Yasuhiko had grown close through playing football and he had made lots of friends in the school team. Because he was spending increasing amounts of time playing 'The World', his football suffered and he quit the team.

"Haha! Midoriyama dodges a nasty tackle and runs for the goal!" One of the boys shouted as he sidestepped an incoming attack. "He draws up to the goal, he shoots-" As he drew back his foot to boot the ball at the keeper, another boy appeared from nowhere and ran across him, deftly stealing the ball before running back down the pitch. "Gah!" Midoriyama yelled and the keeper retorted,

"And star player Fumikazu steps in to snatch the ball and go and score for the opposing team!" Fumikazu grinned as he dodged several defenders to score a neat goal, the ball landing in the bottom right corner. Midoriyama groaned,

"That's six-zero. I'm exhausted." Another player piped up,

"I think that's it for today! Thanks for letting us play with your new football, Kazu!" Fumikazu scooped it up in his arms and smiled.

"Hey, what else could I do with a football without friends? Have a great rest of Christmas Day and an awesome New Year if I don't see you again before it!" Everyone said their farewells and as Fumikazu and Midoriyama walked past the bench that Kenji sat on, Midoriyama commented to Fumikazu,

"I'm gonna play 'The World' when I get home. My brother bought me the latest top-of-the-range FMD for Christmas!" Kenji stiffened as he heard this. "Hey, Kazu, are you going to be online?" Kazu glanced around furtively before nodding,

"As long as my sister isn't around. I might not be able to play for the rest of this holiday season, 'cause I can't keep heading to internet cafes when I should be socialising. Don't worry, I'll email you if I can't log on." As the boys dispersed, Kenji stood up, slightly irritated but determined not to let one trifling incident spoil his day. He decided that he'd walk through the floral gardens belonging to the local university on his way back. They allowed anyone to walk through and Kenji hoped that seeing beautiful flowers would cheer him up.

When he arrived, walking through the wrought-iron gates, he saw that two other people were already present; odd, considering it was Christmas Day. There was a young woman with short blonde hair and a man with short black hair. The man was stood stock-still, staring down at a cluster of red flowers. The woman was merely milling around and she noticed the man's attention to the red flowers.

"You like them?" She spoke and he was shaken out of his trance. His bright blue eyes met her own.

"They always remind me of a friend." He answered and she stooped down to pick one. Straightening up, she held it out for inspection.

"That's sad." Kenji watched their interaction curiously. The man shrugged, half-smiling. "Isn't it said that when you see someone you'll never meet again, they bloom along the path?"

"Lycoris." He uttered, plucking the flower from her grasp. She tilted her head enquiringly and he nodded. "They fell..." The woman added her own comment,

"I wonder why the path wasn't paved when I last saw him..." They stood in silence for a while before the man pointed out,

"It's not good to pick these spider lilies. The bulbs are poisonous and I'm not sure if the rest of the plant is a skin irritant..." The woman laughed and the man smiled softly.

"Then I'll wash my hands." She replied and the man spoke just as quickly,

"You'd wash your hands of him, the one whom you should have met along the path paved with spider lilies?" At her silence, he teased gently, "I know you didn't mean it in that way. Forgive me, I'm just playing. So, what are you doing here today? Shouldn't you be with your family?" The woman looked at him pointedly and Kenji was glad that he wasn't on the end of it.

"I came to see whether the flowers were surviving the cold. The _hitorishizuka_...they seem so delicate." She knelt down to a tiny flower enclosed by leaves. The man nodded and she fired back, "A personal question. I could ask you the same." The man laughed.

"Indeed. I'm here to remove the spider lilies...they're a pest, aren't they? People touch them, and if it's the bulb it's very poisonous..." The woman implored,

"Don't remove them all. They have a place here." The man scooped up an armful of them and the woman reacted oddly to the nondescript action. Her eyes widened and she backed away from him, whispering, "You aren't going to give them as a bouquet?" The man noted her horrified reaction and shook his head. Kenji, who was loitering around the flower arrangement section, wondered what on earth was going on.

"Of course not...it's a shame they're associated with death. They're so beautiful that maybe if they didn't have such a connotation, they could be given freely. Don't worry, I'm just taking them home to keep." The woman gazed at him sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Kenji then remembered that red spider lilies were usually planted in cemetaries, placed at tombs and were used as a tribute tp the dead. Why would that man want to keep them, unless he'd lost a relative like the woman assumed? The man looked away, unable to hold the woman's glance.

"It wasn't that recent...it's just that around times of celebration, I like to keep a bouquet of them to remember _her _by." He then looked into the sky, addressing nobody in particular. "_Lycoris..._I wonder where you are now...why you let yourself die..." Kenji winced. Sounded like whoever he was addressing had died instead of prolonging his or her life. Perhaps the person had been in an accident, knew they couldn't survive without life support...knew their life would draw to a close, just like how those red spider lilies would die out in the summer.

"But in the winter, they return." He found himself calling over and cursed himself immediately as the pair turned to look at him. He could do nothing but walk over and join the conversation. The man looked back to the sky miserably, watching the grey clouds pass over them.

"She won't. I don't have the courage to look for her." Kenji glanced sideways at the woman, uttering quietly,

"Is hallucination a side-effect of red spider lily poisoning? Or general insanity?" The woman began to smile before quelling her mirth.

"No. Be serious!" She could see that the man was still hurt by whatever had happened, and Kenji shrugged apologetically. Then he shivered. What did the man mean by 'look for her'? Was he going to try and find her in the afterlife? Was he going to...do something rash? Suddenly a long-dormant instinct rose and consumed Kenji. He reached out to the man,

"I don't think you need to look for her. If she let herself die, like you said, it sounds like she was accepting of her fate. You don't need the courage to look for her if you have the courage to accept her fate...she's probably waiting for you, wherever she is now." The man's eyes, misted by sorrow, cleared partly. He replied unevenly, looking down at the flowers in his arms.

"Lycoris...named for these flowers." Kenji smiled reassuringly at him, holding his arm.

"Then here's a remnant of her! Almost as if she left something behind for you. Something that lets you know her presence is with you." He replied not to Kenji, but to something else entirely.

"The...they fell from the sky! When I was attacked...I saw a vision of her flower...I was saved!" He turned to Kenji suddenly. "You're right. Her presence will always remain in 'The World'. She's not totally lost. Thank you and have a good New Year. And to you," He nodded to the woman before leaving, spider lilies in hand. Kenji missed the reference to his least favourite thing since the man hadn't emphasised the words like most players did. Instead, Kenji's eyes widened as he realised what he'd said and done. The woman watched him and he could read cautious hope in her eyes, as if she believed that a theory of hers could be true. "He seemed a bit crazy there...grief-crazed?" The boy metamorphosed from helpful and comforting to his usual cynical and cool personality.

"You reminded me of someone just then, comforting him. But it seemed that our paths were lined with _lycoris radiata..._" Kenji found his mouth was beyond his control, and it spoke warmly,

"But what I said, that there's something that remains of the woman he loved...there's bound to be something that remains of your lost person." She reacted,

"And then. Do you...did you play 'The World'?" If it had been anyone else, Kenji would have become annoyed. But this silent, stoic woman radiated calmness and distance and he couldn't find it in him to rage at her. He went to deny ever owning the game-

"Once. But the past is the past, and if you say that when you meet people you'll never see again, the path is lined with these red spider lilies...then my parting with my character was in a field of the flowers." Kenji's eyebrow twitched as one thought overrode another. The woman seemed disappointed.

"I see. Well, I should leave. Have a good New Year." Kenji replied,

"You too." Then something occured to both him and the woman and they laughed. They'd met with the spider lilies by their path! Perhaps they'd never meet again either.

* * *

Kenji lazed around, laying on the sofa. Dinner had been superb and he'd eaten a lot. Now he could watch television restfully. Nothing needed to be done, it was the school holidays, he was free to do what he wanted...his eyes slowly closed as the warmth made him drowsy.

_"See Kenji, you may have changed but you still have it in you to be me." A boy with bright green hair spoke, twin blades at his sides. Kenji was not impressed to be in the interior of Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, the cathedral where much had happened._

_"I wasn't intending to be all nice to those people! The man was a nutjob, the woman... was just weird. It'd take too much changing to become Kite again." The twin blade shook his head,_

_"You do realise that I'm not even a separate personality. I'm part of your subconscious manifesting in this form. I'm Kenji, not Kite. I'm a part of you that's still chivalrous and polite. You're dreaming and your subconscious has invented me to realise your suppressed desire to play 'The World' again." Kenji exploded into laughter._

_"You sound like a psychiatrist! Much more like me!" Kite replied aggressively,_

_"So do you see now?" Kenji raised his hands in defence,_

_"Alright, alright, chill! I'll think about it." He fell silent, eyebrows raised in thought, eyes unfocused, hand on his chin- "No." Kite sighed._

_"Fine. I'll stop asking. I'll leave you to lead your life of boredom." As Kite disappeared in golden rings, Kenji frowned. It was true that without the game and football, he had nothing to do except homework... Maybe he would find a new hobby._

* * *

"I'm here to join the Naginata club. I understand it's free for under-18s...can men join?" Kenji stood at the doorway, addressing someone in bamboo body armour, baggy trousers, a face-concealing helmet and gloves. The warrior turned to him, removed her helmet and smiled powerfully. Short blonde hair fell down onto her shoulders and blue eyes were revealed.

"Looks like the red spider lily myth isn't all it's claimed to be." She held out her hand and a surprised Kenji took it. "I never did catch your name. Welcome."


	3. Signs

_A/N: Apologies, this is later than I said it would be. School is already keeping me busy. Thank you to all my reviewers, your kind words have definitely inspired me to keep plugging away at the fic and I promise you now that I will give it a proper ending, even if it takes a while! This chapter is dedicated to all you original .hack fans. Can you guess who pops up in this chapter? If some of them are pushing it a bit, I apologise, but I intend to get as many people as I can in this story! I love it when series cross over :)_

**Chapter Three: Signs**

"So why don't you play anymore?" Shirogawa asked. Kenji had barely removed his jacket and his eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Good morning, Shirogawa." His co-worker glanced at him sideways, wheeling out the next trick in his arsenal intended to prise information out of Kenji.

"You know what? Call me Kyou!" Kenji was too distracted to notice that Shirogawa's invitation to call him by his first name was only intended to make him drop his guard. Putting his jacket in the break room, he emerged, looking at Shirogawa carefully. Who knows what the man was up to.

"Um...Kyou-san, how old are you?" Shirogawa was surprised at Kenji showing him respect with the honorific -san.

"23. Why do you ask?"

"So, how come you don't act your age?" Veins bulged on Shirogawa's forehead and he shook his fist at Kenji before remembering that it wouldn't help his case. Kenji wheeled around to watch him suspiciously and he held his hands behind his back innocuously. "Whatever." The pair were working the morning shift of New Year's Eve and Kenji was looking forwards to escaping Shirogawa. He really was a case...Kenji had browsed the internet a few days ago and found a pretty detailed fansite to 'The World' with archives and had looked up Silver Knight out of curiosity. According to the site, Silver Knight used to hold some authority. He was serious, draconian at some points, and possibly grumpy? All the descriptions and pictures of Shirogawa's character just didn't match up with the slightly goofy employee before him. "Shirogawa?" He asked absent-mindedly, reverting to surname.

"What is it?" Shirogawa, who had been watching customers browse, turned to him. Kenji put forward his question,

"So, you used to play some character called Silver Knight?" Shirogawa's reaction was most...strange to watch. His chest puffed with pride but Kenji could read embarrassment in his eyes.

"Yes. I believe Hashimoto explained it all." Was Shirogawa ashamed because the description on the fansite was true? It was written with some bias although it attempted to be as objective as possible. Kenji nodded, pretending he hadn't done some of his own research.

"Well, like I said, I hadn't heard of you. What was it like then? I mean, the game." Shirogawa's expression was pensive as he explained and Kenji watched him, fascinated.

"Times were tough. I was captain of the thirteenth squadron of the Crimson Knights. We were a guild formed to deal with players. We were players too, so we had no official power. But we had a large enough number of members to get what we wanted. The original leader, named Crim, had quit the guild because he was sick of the responsibility...so I believed. The next leader, Lady Subaru...she was kind, too kind. There was an infamous player killer prowling daily and reports of hackers...strange things were happening..." Alarm bells rang in Kenji's head.

"Strange things?" He wanted to know, no, he needed to know.

"There were reports of a hacker...and an odd cat-player. Irregular monsters and a player who seemed to be logged in twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week." Kenji demanded,

"The cat-player, tell me more." Shirogawa folded his arms.

"I only know what I heard, information from other players. Some can be unreliable. Apparently it wasn't even a player, it was an NPC of some sort...I was told its name was Maha." Kenji froze.

_The cat in clothing and a hat attacked them from its secure spot inside a strange sort of being._

_"Elk, concentrate on healing. We'll bring Mia back, I promise!" Kite shouted, running forwards, blades raised._

"What did it look like?" Kenji's voice sounded distant. Shirogawa was too busy reminiscing to notice that these questions were a bit strange and that they had a definite direction.

"It was quite strange really. Had purple and white fur, the creepiest crimson eyes I've ever seen...it wore clothing. A tunic, boots." He chuckled. "A cat in a hat!" Everything made sense. Maha was Macha was Mia. An interesting trio... "Anyway, Subaru was too lenient with the player that seemed to be logged in permanently...he could do odd things, things that broke system rules. He should have been dealt with. We argued over her treatment of the player, she got angry at my heavy-handed treatment of other players...she dissolved the Crimson Knights and I lost my way. I quit a short while later." Kenji had no snarky comeback and just nodded silently. Shirogawa then turned on him, a foreboding grin on his face. "Your turn! You have to tell me now." Kenji gave him a dirty look.

"Fine. I played when everyone was falling into comas. After everyone woke up, I quit. I didn't want to take chances with it. If there were problems with the game in your time and when I played, I didn't want to get caught up with anything in future." Shirogawa pounced on his wording, smiling like the cat who had got the cream.

"Caught up? What do you mean?" Kenji's shoulders tensed as he realised that he'd managed to let something slip.

"I knew some players that fell into comas...I was relieved when they woke up, believe me." Shirogawa seemed satisfied with the answer and no more questions were asked. It was a surprisingly quiet shift and Kenji suspected that customers would be bypassing their electronics section to go to the alcohol section. It was New Year's Eve, after all.

* * *

After three hours with virtually no business, Kenji and Shirogawa had stooped to making bets on whether passing people would buy things from them to relieve boredom. A trio of girls appeared and Kenji glared fiercely at Shirogawa as their competition entered its next round.

"I bet that they won't buy from us!"

"I bet that they won't buy from us!" Shirogawa and Kenji shouted in unison, their glares almost potent enough to set things alight. After two minutes, Shirogawa's left eye twitched. Kenji leaned forwards. Shirogawa's left eye twitched again. Kenji scowled even more fiercely- Shirogawa blinked.

"Ha!" Kenji jabbed his finger at Shirogawa victoriously and Shirogawa pouted,

"Fine. You bet that they won't buy from us." He then growled reluctantly, "I bet that they will." With their battle of wills over, they watched the three approach. One was in a wheelchair, another was pushing the wheelchair and a third was chatting to them animatedly. The girl pushing the wheelchair had short brown hair and Kenji felt himself comparing her appearance to BlackRose before shaking his head and clearing the unwelcome thought from his mind.

"I'm trusting you not to run me over at the party tonight!" The girl chatting to the pair also had short brown hair, but she had striking violet eyes. The wheelchair girl replied with a smile,

"If Mimiru reaches the alcohol table, I'm afraid I'm not going stand a chance, let alone you!" The trio imagined Mimiru running people over with the wheelchair and they all laughed. Mimiru retorted,

"And they sent _us _to buy the drinks! Come on. An, you believe in me, don't you?" The girl with lilac eyes glanced from Mimiru to the girl in the wheelchair mock-pleadingly.

"Don't make me choose...best friend, girlfriend, best friend, girlfriend. Let's just go, get the drinks, leave." Both Mimiru and the girl in the wheelchair pulled faces at An and they laughed again. Kenji commented to Shirogawa out of the corner of his mouth,

"Did she say girlfriend?" Shirogawa watched them with the look of the man who is on the verge of having a gigantic epiphany, shrugging. Mimiru changed the subject,

"Woo, Tokyo U is going to have the best New Year's Party in the city! How much money do we have?" The girl in the wheelchair reached for her purse and counted the notes in it before whistling,

"Fifteen thousand yen. We really _are _going to have a good night." An was flabbergasted.

"How on earth did we get that much money? Did we steal from people? And why is the leader of the Student Association trusting us with it?" The wheelchair girl replied immediately,

"First of all, where do you think the rest of the membership fees go? They aren't all spent on biscuits and drinks at meetings. Secondly, he isn't trusting _us, _he's trusting _me._" An winced, pretending to be injured,

"You wound me with those words!" As they drew up to the counter, Kenji and Shirogawa pretended not to be watching them avidly. Shirogawa studied his fingernails disinterestedly and Kenji found a list of special offers to peruse, holding the clipboard up to hide his curious eyes. After a few moments of bated breath in which Mimiru looked as if she had business in the electronics section, the group of girls passed by, still talking. Kenji smirked at Shirogawa.

"That's seven to me, nothing to you. I like this game." Shirogawa grumbled under his breath and as their shift seemed to be a graveyard shift, all fell silent again.

* * *

After an uneventful lunch break, Kenji volunteered to tidy up the aisles partly to stave off boredom and partly to avoid Shirogawa. He could tell that Shirogawa wanted to ask him more questions, and he had no defence against them after asking the ex-Silver Knight so much. In the memory card section, various PS4 and XBOX720 memory card boxes were littered over the floor. When customers were trying to find one that fit their needs, things tended to get messy. Kenji decided he'd tidy them up in the most time-consuming way possible so as to minimise Shirogawa's window of opportunity for question asking and hasten the end of his shift. He made them into piles by game console and by card size. The smallest of 10GB was on the left and the largest, 5TB, was to the right. Kenji looked at his watch and cursed. It had only taken him half an hour to do so. He then took the rest of the cards off the shelves for a complete overhaul of the section. Organising the cards' boxes into the piles he'd already made would take even longer, so he hoped. After doing so, he checked his watch. He'd only waste- spent an hour and fifteen minutes doing so. A sly smile spread across his face. What if he organised them by the company who produced them...after a good fifteen minutes in which there were now endless piles over the aisle, Kenji shook his head, the sly smile broadening. Actually, he had changed his mind. He would organise them in reverse alphabetical order. After doing so, slowly picking up each pile and rearranging it while being careful to keep them in the order of smallest to largest and in console-specific arrangements, it 'occurred' to him that alphabetical order would have made more sense in the first place.

Meanwhile, still staffing the service counter, Shirogawa clenched his teeth and his fists. How the hell could it take his sarcastic co-worker the better part of _two hours_ just to tidy up a few poxy memory cards?!

* * *

As Kenji reached the middle of the alphabet, he marvelled at the range of companies that produced these memory cards. Was it that lucrative?

"Excuse me, could you help me?" Kenji looked up from his task to see a boy who couldn't have been older than twelve or so addressing him. Standing up and wincing as his knees ached in protest (he had been knelt down while sorting the items), he nodded.

"What are you looking for?" The boy replied,

"I found an FMD and controller in a closet at home...they're what you use to play 'The World', aren't they?" Kenji nodded sceptically. Well, surely the kid would know if he owned some! Did he not play the game already? "I don't actually have a copy of the game at home...and I asked my parents about why we had the stuff. They said that my cousin had bought new ones and sent those ones to me to use..." Kenji raised an eyebrow, folding his arms. "But they said they were going to get rid of them because I didn't have a copy of the game and they didn't want me to get the game. Because of the comas." Kenji's reply evidently wasn't what the boy was after.

"Good. Your parents are sensible people. I wouldn't risk playing it either." The boy stuttered,

"N-no, I m-mean I was looking for a copy of the game." Kenji shook his head.

"Sorry, we don't sell video games here. We're just electronics, accessories, and such." The boy scurried off with a backwards glance at Kenji and he returned to his task, stacking shelves with the memory cards newly put in the right order.

Shirogawa watched the boy hurry past that had entered the shop with a clear aim. What had Kenji done to send him running away so quickly? As Kenji re-emerged from the memory card aisle, he frowned at the youth.

"What's wrong with that boy?" Kenji wasn't one to mince his words. Meeting Shirogawa's eyes directly, he replied,

"He came looking for a copy of 'The World'. I told him not to play it." Shirogawa's frown progressed into a glare.

"Kenji, you can't let your personal prejudices dictate what you say to other people! Firstly, on a basic level it's against employee conduct to warn people off buying items. Secondly, it's not up to you to decide for other people whether they should buy something. Thirdly, you can't allow whatever it is that's eating you to poison your attitude towards other people! Just because something happened to you, doesn't mean it will definitely happen to others! You were out of line." Kenji looked away moodily. Shirogawa's speech was completely correct and the teenager knew it, even if he was too stubborn to admit it. At a time when many players of 'The World' had advised against playing or going to certain fields, he'd ignored the advice and gone on to rescue the comatose players. He conceded that he had a system-defying bracelet...he had grown angry when Yasuhiko had tried to tell him what to do. Then he noticed how Shirogawa had phrased his reproach.

"What do you mean...just because something happened to me?" Shirogawa didn't even smirk in triumph. Folding his arms matter-of-factly, the former Silver Knight explained,

"Why else would you be so bitter towards a simple online game? You seem a completely normal person...but your hate for 'The World' is overpowering...and irrational, it seems." Kenji shrugged coldly,

"So what if something happened to me? I can hate the game if I want." He promptly cursed the words that tumbled out of his mouth. He knew as well as Shirogawa that his reply was utterly puerile. Shirogawa eyed him carefully,

"Yes, of course. But you have a reason. The people you talk to don't...and it's not fair for you to influence them. They have the right to make their own decision." Kenji replied, defeated,

"I know! I know..." He still couldn't meet Shirogawa's eyes and the remaining shift time passed all too quickly. Kenji threw on his jacket as quickly as he could and left without saying goodbye to his co-worker. Shirogawa watched him go. He knew that deep down, Kenji was wise enough to accept what he'd pointed out. With a calm smile on his face, he began to shut up shop.

* * *

Kenji stepped out into the road-

A strong hand grabbed his arm and held him back as a Mitsubishi whizzed past and a wise voice warned,

"Careful. Your eyes might be on the road, but your mind isn't." Kenji looked up to see a middle-aged man holding his arm, a cigarette between the index and middle finger of his other hand. The man let go of his arm and the teenager thanked him.

"Thanks. Nearly got squashed there." The man nodded,

"And in such a rush too. Thinking about anything in particular?" Kenji nodded slowly as the man took a drag on his cigarette.

"Yeah." The man replied casually as the flow of traffic slowed,

"Five yen for your thoughts?" He then started walking across the road and Kenji followed.

"Just thinking about something someone said earlier." They reached the other side and the man stopped. He had a sort of leisurely yet helpful atmosphere and gave Kenji the impression that he was a good listener. The boy added, "About attitudes towards things. You can't let your own experiences colour others', especially if they haven't experienced whatever it is." The man nodded sagely.

"I see. There's a difference between blind prejudice and concern for others. If you've gathered knowledge from your experiences that can be used to help others, then there's nothing wrong with a warning of some kind." Kenji watched the man take another puff of his cigarette. Whoever he was, this man seemed knowledgeable.

"I guess...but what if everything's changed since then? What if it's safe now?" The man stared at nothing in particular thoughtfully.

"Well, how would someone know that if they'd only seen danger?" In truth, Kenji was impressed that the man could keep up with his cryptic comments.

"If they'd made everything change..." The man nodded, his messy brown hair getting in the way of his cobalt eyes.

"Well, I could understand their misgivings. Perhaps they should be open to new experiences and allow other people to partake too." Kenji had expected an answer like this but it didn't make hearing it any easier. Fighting off the urge to stomp away like an angry toddler, he forced a smile.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for the advice." The man waved as he left, taking a notebook and pen out of his bag and beginning to write something.

* * *

The pair of warriors circled each other slowly, calculatingly. They both wore helmets with mesh across the front that concealed their identities and protected their faces, a thick plastic chestplate and gloves that doubled up as armguards. Under the chestplates they wore thick jumpers, _hakama _and shin guards. Their bare feet padded across the floor as they each regarded the other levelly. In their hands were long bamboo spears with wooden fake blades atop them. "Ready!" The warriors stopped moving, standing stock-still and not taking their eyes off each other. "Fight!"

The warrior with the green clothing came at the other with a lunge, front leg bent and back leg stretched back for balance. The dummy blade was thrust at the chest of the other warrior, who managed to knock it aside to the left before stabbing forwards at the green warrior. The green warrior had expected the other to exploit the opening left by the failed attack and stepped back. As the blade stopped short of their chestplate, they waved their own spear at the other warrior provokingly. The other warrior, kitted out in standard navy and black, rose to the bait and jabbed at the green warrior in short spurts, aiming for every single body part that was unprotected. The green warrior then performed a complicated manoeuvre, spinning the haft of their spear like a rotor. The momentum of it continually knocked away the attacks and as the navy warrior aimed for the green's head in frustation. Under the helmet, the green warrior smiled slyly and bent their knees. As a result, the blade sailed overhead and the green warrior lashed out, sweeping the navy warrior's feet out from under him.

"Stop!" The green warrior put down their spear carefully, walking over the the navy warrior. Pulling off their helmet with one gloved hand, they offered the other to the navy warrior. Short blonde hair fell from the helmet and cool blue eyes twinkled as the navy warrior took her hand. She pulled him upright and he dropped the spear, pulling off his helmet with both hands feverishly quickly. She winced, helmet under her arm.

"Careful with the equipment." He apologised quietly, brown hair plastered to his forehead by sweat. She could see that whatever was driving his attacks, it was detrimental to his technique. "Something is distracting you." The boy's eyes watched other people wonder around, helmets off. "You're the only male?" Naginatajutsu was typically a woman's art, ever since women of the samurai class were expected to wield one proficiently and because the weapon kept opponents at a distance, removing any kind of weight, height and strength advantage. Thus, the youth stood out from the other members of the club and initially was the target of some amusement. The boy shook his head,

"No, that's not it."

"Come on, Kenji." She pressed him and he replied in frustration,

"It's nothing, Kuchinashi-san! I'm fine." He was surprisingly respectful towards the young woman. She shook her head, cool gaze fixed on him.

"You fought poorly. It's clear that your heart wasn't in the fight." Kenji shrugged self-deprecatingly.

"Alright, it wasn't." Kuchinashi placed her helmet down on the wooden floor as another club member called for a break and she folded her arms.

"Venting stress through fighting is acceptable, but if you let your technique become sloppy and powered solely by anger, the fight is worth nothing." Kenji sighed. It had been a hard day and he was running out of energy to power his irritation. Kuchinashi with her intuition could see this, and offered, "You are overtired. It's alright for people to leave early if circumstances necessitate it." She then called to another woman, "Yuki-san, I have a research paper to write. May I go?" Yuki nodded, smiling.

"It was nice seeing you tonight. Goodbye, Ayaka-san." Kuchinashi elbowed Kenji, and he walked up to Yuki, murmuring,

"Excuse me, Ishida-san...I have to get back home...I have to finish a project for tomorrow." Yuki was friendly and had warmed to the only boy in the naginata club. Her smile grew as she regarded him,

"Ah, of course! Don't let playtime get in the way of your studies. Will we be seeing you next week?" Kenji nodded earnestly and she dimissed him with a farewell.

* * *

Kuchinashi walked side by side with Kenji, breath appearing before her in clouds of steam. She looked up into the night sky and wrapped her coat tighter round her, warding off the winter air.

"So, a project?" She asked. Kenji nodded,

"Yeah. It's practically done." Then he asked suddenly, "So, do you run the Naginata club?" Kuchinashi nodded, looking straight ahead.

"I'm the president. Yuki-san is the vice president and I can count on her to run things in my absence." Kenji speculated,

"Must be intense...being president of a university naginatajutsu club, taking part in competitions while keeping up with work." Kuchinashi shrugged,

"It's nothing. If you really love something, nothing's a burden when it's involved." Kenji looked down at his feet reluctantly. Nothing had been troublesome when he played 'The World', especially in the weeks after the incident the press called Pluto Again was resolved...today had been a trying day and he was tempted to rethink his attitude on everything. "So, what bothered you?" Her question startled him out of his thoughts and he replied hesitantly,

"I was thinking...about something. Whether there's any point in avoiding it any longer." Her advice was short yet considered.

"If it's necessary, there is no avoiding it. If you have a good reason for avoiding it, then do not give in." The concise comment made Kenji stop and she turned to him, watching him struggling with an inner conflict. Then he decided, a resolute expression on his face.

Kenji looked back over at Kuchinashi, surprised. The look on her face was not normal for the stoic woman. It was pained yet her eyes held glimpses of nostalgia. She reached a hand out towards him unconsciously, "You look just like..." Then she realised what she was doing. Withdrawing her hand as if scorched, she shook her head and turned around to face their destination. "Nothing." Kenji raised an eyebrow. What was that? He hurried over to her and she gestured towards the sign for the train station. "This is where you're headed. Have a good week." Kenji smiled for once,

"You too." Their parting was brief yet pleasant, and as Kenji entered the large building, he decided that today hadn't been completely awful.


	4. Successors

_A/N: First of all, a huge apology to all readers. I made you wait a month for this update, and I understand how annoying it is to have to wait ages for updates, so I'm sorry! At first school got in the way and when I finally had time to work on this, I found out that I need surgery and was waiting to go into hospital. Still waiting, so I bashed out the rest of this chapter! To forestall questions, I'm more of a walking wounded than a bed-ridden patient, so I'm fine :) Anyway, to those who tried to guess at the characters featured earlier: Yes. The boy **is **Sora and the old man **is **Bear, and in addition to those slightly cryptic references, you got all the obvious ones right. You're all just too good at this! This chapter may be a let-down when it comes to the "guess the character references" game, but I'll try my best to make it harder in the next few chapters! I hope this slightly longer than usual chapter makes up for my lax update schedule, and I'll try harder in future to get chapters up! To summarise: I apologise for making you wait a whole month for this chapter and I hope you can forgive me! On with the tale!_

_A/N 2: I've changed all mentions of football to soccer because I feel that it'd be more in-character for everyone to refer to it thus. Candy floss might be known as cotton candy to readers of other nationalities, and any spelling mistakes mean that I'm using British English (in case I forgot to mention it earlier!) Sorry for any people that are out of character and for any non-canon details that I've used, such as Ouka being someone's tutor- my excuse is that it's all AU!! And I think I should apologise for the merciless overuse of fangirl-style Japanese words scattered in here. Anyway, I'll get on with it now!_

Disclaimer reiteration: I do not own anything mentioned here!

**Chapter Four: Successors**

Kenji had barely got through the door when his mother appeared, rounding on him,

"Where have you been? Did you forget about the party tonight?!" The boy froze, mentally berating himself. His mother was waiting for an explanation, arms folded in irritation. He apologised immediately.

"I'm sorry, 'kaa-san, it completely escaped my mind...I was at naginata club. It's been a long day..." His mother's reaction was unexpected, and a soft smile crossed her face. She then enveloped him in a hug, which he didn't have time to get out of,

"That's great! I always thought you should be going out and meeting people...after you quit football, you had nothing to do." She let him go, now grinning at him slyly. Still taken aback by her reaction, he had no defence against her teasing, "You must be a ladies' man then...is that why you joined a naginata club? Make friends with all the women?" Kenji spluttered, his cheeks turning a healthy red,

"N-no! That's not it! I-it was the most convenient club for me and it seemed like exercise!" His mother nodded cynically,

"Of course, it's the most convenient despite the fact that you're free every evening after school...and yes, fending off people with a big stick and barely doing anything is great exercise for a growing young man..." Kenji immediately glared at his mother, who acknowledged his unhappiness with the way the conversation was going...right before carrying on, "What about karate? Judo? Sumo? No, I don't want you bulking up!" She contradicted herself, "If you're so keen to fight with a weapon, even kendo! Not that I have a problem with you being a ladies' man..."

"Enough, Mother! I'll go and get changed, we can go to the party, everything will be fine!" He cried, rushing up the stairs. His mother giggled, raising a hand to her mouth. Her son was so serious nowadays that she couldn't help but relish a rare opportunity to tease him. She was glad that after that game incident, he'd stopped playing and started taking life more seriously, but he suddenly quit the football club and seemed to draw away from the world and people. Occasionally she'd lie awake at night wondering if there was something bothering him or it was just teenage behaviour. The news that he'd gone and signed himself up for something of his own accord was promising news...though she couldn't help her amusement at the fact that he'd signed up for a woman's martial art. In fifteen minutes, a showered and dressed up Kenji appeared in front of her looking unenthusiastic and she commented casually,

"You know I was joking, right?" His reply was favourable and his mother was encouraged again.

"...Yeah." He met her eyes, nodding slowly. "...do you think I should do kendo?" She regarded him, surprised. He'd definitely changed in the last few days.

"Like I said, I was only joking! If you want to take up another sport, whatever it is, then it's your choice. Do whatever it is you want to do! Just make sure you don't take on too much at once." Her son nodded and they spent a minute or so in comfortable silence before Kenji asked,

"Is 'tou-san coming?" His mother rolled her eyes,

"He's already there. He went straight there after work to help set up with his colleagues." Kenji smirked wryly. This neighbourhood New Year's Party was sponsored by his father's company and both he and his mother knew that by 'helping to set up', she meant 'your father is already there, probably quite intoxicated and swapping tipsy anecdotes with his friends'. Checking her watch, she glanced at him, "Time to go!"

* * *

By the time the pair arrived at the local park, the party was already heating up. Music blared from loudspeakers hung on posts erected temporarily for this purpose. Lights were hung on the trees scattered sporadically around the field and various marquees had been set up. The air was brisk but bearable and people milled around the field. Some of them sat on the park benches or plastic chairs, plastic glasses full of drink. Kenji turned to look at his mother, who was all made up and casting her eyes around. "Kenji-kun, can you see the drinks tent?" Kenji squinted over at a white marquee and pointed towards it half-heartedly,

"There?" His mother smiled at him, amused at the image of eventually finding her husband roaring with laughter at his friends, an almost empty glass of sake in his hand. The corners of Kenji's mouth turned upwards and she said her farewells,

"No alcohol for you for another four years yet." She then placed some money into his hand, "For refreshments. I'm trusting you to walk home alone if you want to stay out longer or if you get bored before we do." She placed the spare key into his hand atop the change and notes and he stared- did she carry the whole house's contents in her bag? She put her purse back into her handbag and parted with him, "I'm going to try and find your father. Have a good night!" She trusted the sixteen year old to be sensible- if there was something wrong with the boy, it was that he was _too _sensible. She waved, walking away and Kenji watched her retreating form, surprised that she wasn't going to introduce him to friends yet again. It was a change from the usual procedures of social events. Kenji sighed. He didn't know if he'd know anyone here and if he met Yasuhiko by chance, it would make the evening so much more awkward. Putting the money and key he'd been given into his jacket pocket, grumbling to himself under his breath. If he had been given a key and was allowed to home when he wanted, why did his mother even bother dragging him out here? As a pair of teenagers walked past him chatting animatedly, he shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered inwards from the edge of the park. There was a stage in the middle with equipment strewn about but no people present on it.

After a few minutes scouting out what was what and orienting himself, he made a beeline for the refreshments tent. There was a medium-large gathering of people hanging around the entrance and he dodged the occasional bystander to enter the tent. As he did, he held up his arm as the electric lights illuminating the tent's interior almost blinded him. A tall, slim man and a rather short woman stood behind the table inside the tent, staffing the refreshments table.

"Ne, if it isn't little Kenji-chan. The last time I saw you properly, you weren't very old at all." The man spoke lazily and the teenager couldn't help but cover his embarrassment at being addressed in such a way with a retort,

"And you were old then, so you must be even older now, Tsuzuki-san." The man smirked- he was another colleague of Kenji's father and had just joined the company when Kenji was young, fresh out of school. Next to Tsuzuki was his co-worker in their department (Kenji couldn't remember her name for the life of him) and she added,

"Yeah, Katsu-kun, don't embarrass the poor kid. What can I do for you?" Kenji answered,

"Got any orange juice?" The woman nodded, getting a carton from out of the refridgerator behind her and pouring the contents into a plastic glass. Kenji handed over money and once the change was given, he said his farewells to the pair and left the tent. He had secured a drink, but what would he do now? The idea of approaching someone first was unthinkable...

"Excuse me!" A soft voice called to him and he turned to see a girl about his age, with long brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a long skirt and a feminine blouse with puffed sleeves. He answered slowly,

"What is it?" Her response was shy,

"Nothing...that is...it's my first time at one of these parties...and you looked lost too..." Resisting the urge to scowl at her presumptuousness, he shrugged,

"I don't make a habit of it." That threw her off- she wasn't sure how to answer, and instead settled for a straight introduction.

"Ano...I'm Terajima Ryoko-" Kenji was rooted to the spot by horror, his limbs frozen in place. His eyes widened and her speech sounded distant as he barely heard it, "_but you can call me Ryoko if you want." _Her image dissolved into a short haired angelic woman with a halo, a white dress and feathery wings. At last he could feel his legs again and he stumbled backwards. This was a dot hacker! A member of his party two years ago! How could he possibly meet her by chance?! She noticed his complete and utter distraction, brows furrowed in confusion. "Are you alright?" Her concerned voice brought him back down to earth and he shakily realised that she couldn't tell who he was just by looking at him. Taking a swig of his orange juice to calm his nerves, he spoke shakily,

"Fine, it's just the cold getting to me. I'm Kenji." When it was apparent after the pause that ensued that he wasn't going to supply her with a surname, she smiled and bowed.

"Nice to meet you." He nodded in return, calculating all possible escape routes, eyes flicking to and fro rapidly. The next silence was more awkward, until Ryoko blurted out,

"D-do you play 'The World'?" Although it was simply an ice-breaker, Kenji cursed the question to hell and back.

"No. I used to, but I gave up to concentrate on my studies." She nodded, seemingly oblivious to his desperation.

"I understand! School is important. I play it...actually, when I started, I was a complete newbie and accidentally used my real name as my player name!" She laughed at her error. Kenji nodded, slowly calming down as he realised that she'd begun to talk about herself and that she was the kind of person who wouldn't stop. All he had to do was nod along- he didn't have to work hard to conceal his online identity. "I got lost in a high level dungeon somehow, I can't believe that I managed to do that!" Kenji grimaced and she read it as a smile, continuing, "Then another player showed up." The boy winced as he realised where this was leading. She had a dreamy countenance as she narrated the tale. "He had bright red clothes and these aqua eyes that you couldn't help watching...they were filled with confidence and compassion at the same time, and they were definitely intelligent...but they were also alert, you got the impression that they took in every last detail. He killed a monster and rescued me from the dungeon...Kite..." She sighed romantically and he twitched. "He was chivalrous, that's the word I'd use! Do you-" Kenji quickly poured lots of orange juice down his throat, almost choking as the sweetness attacked the back of his throat and Ryoko abandoned the question she had been about to ask- he couldn't answer if he was drinking. "Oh, never mind! Well, it turned out I was on the completely wrong server..."

* * *

"Mirei, get back here!" The shout didn't even phase Kenji, whose dull eyes were glazed over.

"Then Kite managed to get the final hit! Even though he'd destroyed his bracelet to defeat Cube- whatever Rachel said it was called, he attacked and never gave up hope for the comatose players!" Ryoko waved her arms around wildly, absorbed in the tale she was recounting. If Kenji had been paying any attention, he would have noticed that Ryoko had actually gleaned a lot of this information from players who were more involved in the events of the Twilight Incident- Kite had tried to avoid involving a newbie in such dangerous affairs, preferring to take his closest, most trusted and most skilled companions to Data Bug fields and to face other anomalies. As a result, the only adventures involving Ryoko that Kenji could recall were when he saved her from the high-level dungeon and a disastrous dungeon run where BlackRose and Ryoko had argued and left him torn between the two...and one of Kite's big traits was loyalty. So he went after BlackRose, choosing to apologise to Ryoko by email instead.

"Mirei, watch where you're going!" The mysterious call was louder now, getting closer.

"...you see, I asked Rachel who asked Nuke Usagimaru who asked Sanjuro who asked Wiseman who ended up asking Mistral..." Ryoko droned on as a blur of white and blue whizzed past the pair, snapping Kenji out of his daze and running smack-bang into a young woman who looked familiar to the boy.

"Sorry!" A high-pitched voice apologised as the woman stumbled and Kenji hurried over, catching her arm and preventing her from falling over. The culprit was a toddler with brown hair down to her shoulders and big brown eyes. She wore a playsuit of white with blue triangles on and yellow ribbons that gave Kenji a definite sense of deja vu... Then another familiar face appeared.

"Kouwa-san!" Kenji had a decent memory for names and faces, and he recognised the girl he'd served at work a few days ago. The eyes behind the glasses wrinkled in confusion before she nodded, a shy smile on her face. The toddler, who couldn't have been older than three, took the opportunity to zip off again. However, Kouwa grabbed her arm and pulled her gently back over. Turning to the woman that the toddler had run into, she bowed in apology, long hair covering her face.

"I'm sorry about this. I should have kept my eye on Mirei better." Mirei smiled innocently up at Kouwa, and Kenji let go of the young woman's arm as she stood up straight, shaking her head almost as shyly as Kouwa.

"It's okay...she already apologised to me." Then she and Kenji were surprised as Mirei nodded earnestly,

"I said sorry! It was an accident." Hearing such a big word from such a small child was enough to leave them dumbfounded and Kouwa explained, a proud grin on her face.

"Little Mirei here is a genius! I'm her babysitter, but she's so curious and inquiring that I end up being her tutor too." Mirei then asked,

"What does 'inquiring' mean?" She didn't even stumble over the new word and Kouwa explained,

"It means you want to find out things. To inquire is to ask a question!" Mirei beamed at the new word and squirmed in Kouwa's grip, wanting to run off and use the new word in conversation. "Anyway, sorry about this. Have a good New Year!" As the pair left, Kenji realised with a jolt that the playsuit the toddler wore bore a startling resemblance to the outfit that a close friend and wavemaster used to wear.

"Kenji-san! It's been a while..." Then the young woman turned to him and Kenji studied her features before he remembered who this person was. If he imagined that her short brown hair was green instead and that she had blue ribbon-like wave markings down her arm, then Natsume the Twin Blade herself stood in front of him. Kenji nodded awkwardly. Oguro Natsume, a year older than him, knew the teenager both as Kenji the unremarkable boy who used to have a penchant for soccer and as Kite, the Twin Blade hero of 'The World'. Between the battles with Magus and Fidchell, Kenji had met Natsume offline and it turned out that they went to the same school. The friendship had lasted until Natsume moved on from middle school and Kenji quit the game. At first Natsume had extended the occasional invitation to him to go out and play soccer or to go to the cinema or even out shopping. He had managed to avoid most events and the friendship had become stagnant. In truth, part of the motivation to avoid her was that she had a crush on him- or rather, she had a crush on Kite the brave Twin Blade. Kenji could never live up to Kite's pleasant personality, especially after he quit 'The World', and Natsume was infatuated with a person that no longer truly existed.

"...Yeah. It has." He answered slowly. The atmosphere was awkward and he finished off his orange juice simply to find something to distract him. Then Natsume looked around,

"I didn't expect to see you here." Kenji forced a friendly smile,

"Well, okaa-san dragged me out here because otou-san works for the company that's running this party." Natsume nodded politely and continued the conversation,

"I see! I don't suppose you know anything about the live band that are going to be playing later?" Kenji shook his head honestly,

"No, Dad didn't bother telling me much about it. I don't know whether it'll be one of those tribute bands or one of those teenage bands where everyone dresses oddly." Natsume couldn't help but giggle at this,

"You mean visual kei?" He shrugged,

"Probably something weird like that." The ice had been broken, and he felt slightly more comfortable as Natsume commented,

"So you quit 'The World' then?" He folded his arms, indicating he wouldn't accept any attempts to convert him to playing the game again.

"Yes. With everything that happened, I neglected my school work. I didn't want to fail and I had no real reason to play the game any more, so I quit and focused on studying." He spoke with a firm voice.

"Sounds like something Kite would do." Natsume's sudden reference to his alter ego threw him off and he didn't rebuke her for mentioning the past. "...but surely it wouldn't hurt just to log on every once in a while to say hello to friends?" Kenji shook his head. Suddenly, Natsume voiced some unpleasant thoughts that he had last heard being spoken by a certain hallucination and he stopped dead- "Just because the world is virtual, it doesn't mean the players you meet are the same. The exist offline too, just like you and I. You can't neglect them like that- it's just as rude as ignoring someone offline." It was a two-pronged attack as she gently scolded him for ignoring both his online friends and her.

"I'm sorry..." From her slightly confused expression, he realised too late that she meant nothing by 'ignoring someone offline' and that she genuinely didn't hold his avoidance of her against him. He stuttered incomprehensibly, attempting to backtrack and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly when two youngsters walked past.

"Why are you dragging me around here? Who said Kazu would even be here?" A boy with short brown hair that framed his face complained. The girl who was a few steps ahead of him replied, not even turning back to face him,

"Don't you remember? He said he played soccer here sometimes." Kenji absently wondered whether they were related as they looked so similar. The boy retorted,

"But why would someone who lives in Yokohama go all the way to Tokyo to play in a park?" The girl stopped suddenly, elbowing him as he walked into her.

"Baka! He goes to school here, so a lot of his friends live here! And there is such a thing as a high speed train!" The boy winced, holding his stomach where her sharp elbow had jabbed him.

"Jeez, okay, okay! So I forgot..." They disappeared in a group of people that had congregated further up the path and Kenji turned back to Natsume, who had also been distracted by the pair. His luck held as feedback echoed suddenly from the speakers and everyone around winced. Then the feedback quietened as someone spoke over the microphone,

"It's ten o'clock! Which means that in two hours, 2013 will be here! And who better to welcome it than our live band, who will be playing in just under half an hour!" Kenji quickly excused himself,

"It was nice seeing you again, Natsume-san. I'm going to go see what all the excitement is about. Ja ne."

* * *

Kenji stood with the crowd as several teenagers who looked to be a year or two older than him took to the stage, carrying various items. One carried some equipment such as wires and power supplies, another a guitar case and a third a chair. The one carrying the guitar case wore a leather jacket and stylised jeans, and Kenji's spirits fell slightly- he looked like one of those punk rockers who were insufferable posers. As he got out his guitar, plugged it into the speaker and strummed it experimentally, the crowd began to murmur excitedly. Then he played the first few chords of what Kenji recognised as the opening to a popular new anime series. The crowd cheered. The guitar player grinned contentedly, still checking his instrument was in tune and ready for playing. Then he began plucking a melody. The crowd fell silent until they all recognised it. Kenji scowled as he heard an electric guitar version of the background music of Mac Anu. The crowd clapped and whistled wildly, and one girl screamed,

"You're the best, Hagiya!" The guitar player winked at her and mouthed back,

"Thanks, Yuuko!" Then one of the other band members found the microphone, hidden in a pile of equipment and brought it to the front of the stage. It took a few tries to get it completely functional and the guitar player named Hagiya spoke into it,

"Testing, one two." It worked and the other band member gave him a thumbs up before turning everything off. The electric guitar fell silent and Kenji wandered off, muttering darkly about 'The World' being too popular. He might as well go home right now before he either bumped into Natsume again or was forced to listen to this band... Without warning, something bumped into him first and fell heavily. Looking down in surprise, Kenji noticed that it was that tiny prodigy Mirei. He knelt down as her mouth wavered and her eyes filled with tears, offering her his hand.

"Careful! Are you hurt?" He asked gently, unaware that a woman was watching him with interest a few metres away, his voice reminding her of someone. Mirei took his hand, shaking her head and he smiled. "Good, I wouldn't want you to hit your head and forget everything that you've learnt!" She retorted, tears forgotten as she got to her feet with his help,

"Hitting your head gives you concussion more often than amnesia!" Her succinct comment made Kenji laugh as he stood up, letting go of her hand.

"Good, I'm glad your mental faculty is still intact." Mirei frowned for a moment before working out what 'faculty' meant, and she poked her tongue out at him. He obligingly pulled a face back and Mirei giggled with childish laughter. Then the woman who was watching him appeared, black hair tied up in a bun.

"Sorry about that. Mirei, don't forget to use your eyes as well as your head!" She simultaneously reprimanded the child and apologised to Kenji, and the teenager shook his head charmingly.

"It's fine. We've met before, haven't we, Mirei?" The toddler squinted up and him and nodded mutely. "She's quite the smart one." The woman smiled at the compliment, adjusting her glasses as she watched the teenager.

"She gets it from her father! If she's inherited anything from me, it'll be my cooking skills." She joked and Kenji smiled. Then the woman introduced herself,

"I'm Kurokawa Mayumi, and you've met my daughter Mirei."

"Ishida Kenji. Pleased to meet you, Mirei-chan, Kurokawa-san." He inclined his head at both of them in turn. The woman disposed of formalities right away, waving her hand at him,

"Please, call me by my first name. You remind me of someone I used to know." Kenji acquiesced slightly uncomfortably, unsure about calling someone his senior by her first name.

"Hai, Mayumi-san." Her smile broadened and his misgivings eased instantly. However, as she studied his features, he felt uncomfortable once again.

"Yes, you definitely have a vague resemblance to him." Kenji asked thoughtlessly,

"Who?" Mayumi answered,

"Someone with quite a strange name, you might think. He was called Kite." As the name stopped him in his tracks and he looked down at Mirei in her playsuit, he spoke quietly, putting the jigsaw together with the pieces that had been revealed to him,

"You have a daughter that was born...it must be two years ago, because you were pregnant before then. She's wearing your Wavemaster outfit, and it suits her. Long time no see, Mistral." Her eyes widened as he correctly named her character from 'The World' and she shrieked in Mistral's high-pitched tones of excitement,

"It is you, Kite!" She hugged him suddenly and he froze, taken aback by the physical contact. As she released him, grinning as if she'd won a billion yen, Mirei asked curiously,

"Kite? But he's Kenji." She pointed at the boy and Mayumi explained,

"Remember when your okaa-chan used to play on the computer? That game where your outfit's from? Kenji here is who she used to play with and they fought lots of tough monsters!" Mirei remarked thoughtfully,

"I want to play too, when I get better at hand-eye co-ordi...co-ordna..."

"Co-ordination? You're only two, Mirei-chan, you'll get good at it soon." Kenji added, amused at the toddler. Mayumi then sent her off,

"Why don't you go find Haruko-chan? She's in the tent with the flags hanging over the entrance. Don't run!" Mirei jogged off to find her tutor and babysitter instead of tearing around at her usual breakneck pace and Mayumi turned to Kenji, seriousness etched in her expression.

"What have you been doing these two years then? You never let any of us know that you were going to stop playing the game." Kenji's usually-dormant conscience wriggled unpleasantly in the pit of his stomach.

"I...I had to stop to focus on school work," He wheeled out the usual excuse weakly, "My grades were atrocious while I was trying to wake all the coma patients up...it wasn't looking good." Mayumi nodded compassionately,

"I understand. I guess that your parents were probably sick with worry about them, and I wouldn't want them to have punished you or done something drastic." As he relaxed his guard, she hit him again hin quick succession, "It's just a shame that you left all your online friends sick with worry too. It's alright, I thought that you might have made the real world your priority, so I told them that..." She went on blithely, seemingly ignorant of Kenji's fidgeting. "...but poor BlackRose insisted on contacting you repeatedly in a short amount of time." The one-two punch was compounded with a verbal haymaker, "Then when Orca logged on that day and informed us in no uncertain terms that he'd had a falling out with you, it probably couldn't have gotten any worse." Her tone was light, but Kenji felt pinned down like a beetle at an entomological exhibition by her alert gaze. Mayumi raised her hand to her chin in thought, "That was just before you quit whatever sport it is that you used to play with him...hockey? No, it was...American football?"

"Soccer." Kenji answered miserably. He knew that she knew exactly what sport it was, but she was forcing an answer out of him to get her point across. She nodded, gestures exaggerated in order to appear innocent, unknowing of the torture she was putting him through.

"Ah, right! That's it, soccer! So after that, nobody had any way to contact you, of course...though that Twin Blade Natsume kept saying she tried to hang out with you. I didn't know she knew you in real life! Of course, I'm no genius- it's Wiseman who bears that name for a reason. He took all this information to paint a picture of what had happened, and the image that came out worried us all. He seemed to think you were turning into a recluse or something!" She laughed as if she thought that the Wavemaster's idea was ridiculous. "But that's not true, right?" Kenji opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Then a few second later he broke away from his place, transfixed by her words and insinuations, turning on his heel and storming off. As his back receded into the distance, she murmured sadly, "I'm sorry, Kite. I just wanted you to realise how worried your friends are and how much they miss you..." Then a white, blue and...pink blur appeared? Kouwa turned up a moment later and Kurokawa Mayumi, online alias Mistral realised that Mirei was holding in her right hand a stick of candy floss twice as big as her head.

"Sorry, Mayumi-san, she somehow talked the man into giving it to her for free." Mirei took a bite of it and replied around a mouthful of pink fluff,

"He liked my big words." Mayumi laughed, although still mindful of the mind game she'd just played with Kenji and Kouwa apologised again,

"If I'd have kept up with her...gomen, Mayumi-san! I know it's just pure sugar and she'll be uncontrollable after this...but I just couldn't take it off her..." Mirei mumbled,

"Discombobulation. Centrifugal force!" Kouwa sighed,

"The man also offered her a free ride on the spinning teacup ride, but it was packed with people so I thought it'd be best to bring her back here rather than lose her there." Mayumi nodded brightly,

"Wise of you, Haruko-chan. Thanks for minding her for me! It seems that the man taught her some new words...Candy floss and new words- enough of a treat for Mirei-chan for one night!" Kouwa's worried expression eased and the trio wandered off, Mayumi sparing the patch of ground where Kenji had stood one last concerned glance.

* * *

As the band played a reasonably popular hit song from a few years ago, Kenji watched them dully. After Mayumi had acted so...so unlike Mistral, his rage had clashed with his guilt and the contest was narrowly won by his guilt. He couldn't possibly answer all of her valid points and the full impact of everything crushed him, adding to the inner turmoil that had driven him to wander through the park, no destination in mind. His feet had led him to the centre of attention- the stage and the musicians, and he didn't care to move. While the music blared and his concentration was on their music, he didn't have to indulge his growing sense of self-dislike, which was threatening to develop into a full-blown frenzy of self-hatred. How could he do that to his friends? What right did he have to scare them so for his own selfish reasons? Shaking his head to forcibly clear it of the thoughts, he let the music reach his ears again. The song finished after a few moments and he applauded mechanically.

"Thank you, Tokyo Park!" Hagiya called and the crowd roared appreciatively back. "Our next song has an...interesting arrangement, so we've enlisted a guest musician for help!" A young woman stepped up on stage with what looked like an electric violin and the crowd clapped politely, not wishing to overwhelm the violinist. Next to Kenji, a young man sighed and Kenji turned to him.

"That's my ex-girlfriend." The boy spoke glumly and Kenji instantly wished he hadn't decided to humour the scorned teenager standing next to him.

"Uh...right. She's musical?" Kenji jabbed a thumb in her direction and the teenager nodded,

"More than anyone I know. You aren't gonna believe it, but her sense of hearing is so good that she could hear something I couldn't." Kenji raised an eyebrow as if to say 'so what?' "You know that online game 'The World'?" He lowered his eyebrow and almost groaned aloud. "Well, when the people fell into comas in the game, there was this sound...and because she heard it, she somehow managed to avoid falling into a coma. Apparently that sound indicated that something was about to attack a person and put them into a coma." Kenji managed to reply,

"Um, wow. Interesting claim to fame." The boy sighed once again.

"She was the only real relationship I had...I was serious about her, and she broke up with me 'cause she said I was too immature..." Kenji wondered if the boy was even listening as he ventured,

"Ouch. Bad luck." The teenager shrugged and turned back to the stage. Hagiya nodded to the drummer, and the next song began.

* * *

The crowd fell silent as Hagiya thanked them.

"You've been a great audience, but now we're handing over to Fujiwara-san, the CEO of DenCorp, thanks to whose sponsorship this evening was possible!" Then he switched off his microphone and an older voice was heard over the speaker system.

"Thank you for coming tonight!" Kenji tuned out and as the CEO spoke, he cast his eyes over everyone in the crowd. People were gradually leaving the area and a gaggle of starstruck youths hung around the stage, waiting for Hagiya and his group to pack up and descend from it. Hagiya was already engaged in a quiet conversation with the girl from earlier, Yuuko. They both paused as they recognised someone in the crowd and waved to whoever it was. Kenji ambled that way out of idle curiosity.

"Akira-chan, you came to see us!" Hagiya grinned and Kenji couldn't see who replied, although he heard a no-nonsense voice answer swiftly,

"Yeah, but don't get any ideas! I just came to support you." Hagiya nodded smoothly,

"I know, I know. In fact, I have something to say to Yuuko." Yuuko looked at him, baffled. "I can think of someone who I'd enjoy spending 2013 with. Yuuko, will you...go out with me?" Yuuko squealed delightedly and as several more people left to go get sake to toast the New Year, Akira became visible. She had shoulder-length brown hair with a gentle fringe that framed her face, and was currently smirking at Hagiya. "No offence, Akira." The young woman shook her head,

"None taken, Hagiya." The new couple left and Kenji found himself face-to-face with Akira. She frowned as he stared and he remembered that someone had once told him it was rude to stare.

"Hi." He lifted a hand in greeting before she could say anything and she nodded, acknowledging his greeting. "The band was good. Do you know the singer?" Akira nodded, reminiscing about past times.

"Unfortunately. He goes to my school, along with the rest of them. I'm Hayami Akira." Kenji introduced himself in return,

"Ishida Kenji. Are you from around here?" Akira shook her head, strands of hair falling in her face.

"No, I live in Yokohama, but my brother has friends here and I'm going to university here soon. We figured we'd come and take a more detailed look around the city and since there was a party here, we might as well go to it. That, and Hagiya bugged me about it since he got the gig here." She smiled wryly. "I guess you're a local then?"

"Yeah." They stood in companionable silence until a countdown blared from the speakers,

"Ten!" Both of them were jolted out of their individual trails of thoughts. "Nine! Eight!" Most people had gone to stand in the only space not taken up by marquees or staging, and Akira was torn between seeking out her family to wish them a Happy New Year. Kenji knew that his father would still be with his colleagues and her mother would be in the gaggle of people, sake or some other drink in her hand. "Seven! Six! Five!" Akira shrugged when she saw that Kenji didn't move, and she commented,

"Well, I guess this is how 2013 starts. A new friendship in a new place." Upon being considered a friend already, Kenji couldn't help but feel warm, and he smiled back at her. "Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!" As the bell in the nearest Shinto temple began to ring and a loud cheer rose from the crowd in the distance, Akira beamed at him,

"Happy New Year, Kenji-kun."

"Happy New Year, Akira-san."


	5. Bittersweet Reality

_A/N: I am so sorry for the lack of update! I went into hospital earlier than I was expecting (which is always a good thing), had the operation and came out, so I spent some time recovering at home where I definitely could have finished this chapter, but in truth life became busier when I was back to normal and I didn't get back to this chapter until the other day, when I was reminded of it. I apologise if this chapter seems to derail- I started it way back when and finished in a couple of days ago. Thank you very much for your reviews, you're stellar as usual at the guessing game (although the employees mentioned last chapter aren't actually from The World :P Next chapter I will try and make it more cryptic!_

Disclaimer: I own nothing. .hack/ and its respective characters, games and other series are all property of BANDAI, etc.

Chapter Five: Bittersweet Reality

Kenji woke up relatively early on New Year's Day, the memories of the previous night fresh in his mind.

_"Happy New Year, Kenji-kun."_

_"Happy New Year, Akira-san."_

_Then the noise from the crowd overwhelmed them. After it died down, Akira glanced sideways at Kenji and speculated,_

_"I heard that in the West, it's traditional to kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve." Kenji immediately turned red despite his cool exterior and spluttered,_

_"A-ah! You aren't one of those people who support Westernisation, right?" Akira mustered up the most serious look she could manage and Kenji began to back away slowly. Then she burst out laughing,_

_"Jeez, Kenji, do you take everything seriously?" Upon realising that she was teasing him, he stopped, a rueful smirk on his face._

_"Well, pretty much." The young woman folded her arms, shaking her head._

_"That's no good. A sense of humour can be one of the most useful things to have in certain situations-" She was interrupted by the pair of children that Kenji had seen earlier. They both had an older boy by the arms and were dragging him towards Akira. Although slightly irked at being interrupted (she reminded Kenji of someone important when she used that almost-glare...he couldn't recall precisely who), the young woman relaxed as she realised who the trio were. _

_"Hey sis, remember the Kunisaki twins?" Kazu spoke. He looked as energetic as he was when Kenji saw him playing soccer, even though it was just past midnight and probably a few hours past his bedtime. The flush to his cheeks combined with the vice-grip the two kids had on his arm suggested to Kenji that there had been a chase involved in bringing Kazu back here. Apparently Akira knew this boy, even though she lived in Yokohama and Kazu seemed to know the park and its surroundings as well as a Tokyo native. Akira scrutinised the almost-identical faces before smiling broadly._

_"Rena and Shugo, right? Of course I do!" The girl beamed at the boy, and they both turned to Akira._

_"We remember you, Akira-san!" Rena spoke respectfully, whereas Shugo took a slight liberty with addressing someone his senior,_

_"Akira-chan! Long time no see!" Akira reached out and ruffled Shugo's hair in a sisterly way._

_"You're taller than I remember. Both of you! How old are you now?" Kenji felt like an outsider and watched the group interact- of couse the kids looked like each other, they were twins! _

_"Thirteen." Rena replied and Kazu nodded sagely, pulling his arms from the twins' grasp._

_"Ah, to be thirteen again. I was a good kid back then, before I discovered sport, being lazy and 'The World!'" Kenji immediately scowled, his instinctual reaction at the name of the MMORPG kicking in. Luckily, his new friend was oblivious as she made her own anger known, shaking her fist at Kazu in warning,_

_"You used to be studious! You better be working hard at school or else..." She growled and Kazu flinched, trying to hide behind Rena and Shugo without the young woman noticing what he was doing. "And you better not have been playing that game again!" Kazu gulped,_

_"N-no, you c-confiscated the CD, remember? How could I?" Kenji found himself wondering yet again who Akira reminded him of when she harnessed her rage. The shaking her fist, that tone when she reprimanded people, even the very way her hair seemed to quiver with electricity when her temper was roused..._

_"Good. Because if I found out you were somehow playing it, your life for the next year would be a misery." She folded her arms abruptly and Kenji lost his trail of thought as her anger receded. Evidently his expression signified that he wasn't completely with the gang, becuase Akira turned to him and addressed him,_

_"Kenji-kun, sorry about that. These people are Kunisaki Rena and Shugo. They used to live in the apartment next door to us before they moved." Kenji wondered, 'us'? "And this great idiot is Fumikazu, my brother." Kazu bowed, a cheeky smile on his face and then Kenji berated himself for not noticing earlier- there was a family similarity about their appearance and Akira didn't seem the sort to shout at strangers for little to no reason. Forcing a grin, he nodded at everyone in greeting._

_"Shugo, Rena, Fumikazu, nice to meet you." Shugo waved at him and Rena bowed formally Fumikazu laughed,_

_"It's an unwieldy name, call me Kazu for short!" Then Rena frowned- Kenji noticed that it was more out of consideration than of irritation. _

_"Kazu...you play 'The World', don't you? I've heard that name from another player." Kazu's expression brightened as Akira glared at him._

_"Don't tell me, you play it too? I know that Shugo had a few taster sessions on my computer back when you lived next to us, but I wouldn't have had you down as a player, Rena-chan!" Shugo muttered,_

_"Yeah, well, that game's stupid anyway, all about heroes and knights. Fairy tales are for kids. And there's no ending- what kind of game doesn't have an ending?" Kenji fought to conceal a smirk- Shugo sounded like a grumpy old man, but perhaps like a valuable ally when it came to denouncing 'The World'. Then another thought crashed into him without warning- Shugo sounded like a more puerile version of him! _

_"Yes, it's fun! So you play under your real name?" Kazu nodded,_

_"Well, my nickname, but it's all the same! What about you?" Rena smiled shyly,_

_"My PC is called Brigit." Akira noticed that the other boys were oddly quiet and commented,_

_"Shugo, Kenji, yen for your thoughts?" Kenji blinked and she added, "You seem like a thoughtful kind of person, more of a watcher than a participant." Shugo huffed,_

_"They're talking about that stupid game. I don't care about it." Kenji nodded mock-sagely,_

_"I've heard that it's over-rated anyway." The younger boy seemed pleased that someone was on his side,_

_"Yeah! And when those players fell into comas...it's probably dangerous too!" Although Kenji was focused on Shugo, he didn't miss the way Akira's entire frame tensed ever so slightly and her eyes involuntarily fixed on Kazu. Storing her reaction in his mind for analysis later on, he continued to nod and make various noises of assent as Shugo ranted. Then the twin trailed off and Rena and Kazu turned back to Akira. Her smile was so bright that Kenji wondered if he'd imagined her reaction a moment ago. _

_"It was great seeing you here, Kunisaki-tachi! But it's getting late and the party's ending. I think it's probably time for you to go. Even I'm feeling tired!" She feigned a yawn, "Tell your parents that I said hello, and next time you're in Yokohama feel free to drop in!" Rena obediently made her farewells and tugged Shugo away from Akira, Kenji and Kazu. Kazu looked craftily at the pair and commented, _

_"I'll make sure they get back to their parents safely, their mother must be wondering where they are!" Confounded by Kazu's sudden disappearance, Kenji was barely attentive to Akira as she talked to him again,_

_"Sorry about that, I didn't know the Kunisaki twins were here. Anyway, time's getting on...and we should go, otherwise we'll miss the last train to Yokohama." Then she hesitated and Kenji raised his eyebrow, unsure of what she would say next. Delving into a small bag at her side, she pulled out a biro and a small notepad, scribbling something on it. "I've only just met you, but it feels like we've known each other for years. Here's my mobile number...we could meet up if I'm in Tokyo some time." _

_Kenji would normally describe himself as a cool, somewhat cautious person, but before he could politely take it and leave, never to look at the numbers on the sheet, he gently took the pen from her and wrote his number on the same page. Akira smiled radiantly, pulled the sheet from the book and ripped it in half, handing him her number and clutching his tightly. "Ja ne, Kenji-kun."_

_"Bye, Akira-san."_

Sitting up in bed and shielding his eyes against the bright sunlight, he reached for his mobile phone. Picking it up off the bedside table, he pressed a few buttons before Akira's number appeared. Last night wasn't a dream, he knew, and this was the proof. However, that meant that his ex-left hand woman in 'The World' (BlackRose was his right hand woman, he reminisced self-deprecatingly) had actually appeared in real life and given him food for thought- bitter food that he found hard to swallow. He slumped back in bed, his arms strewn either side of it. His outstretched fingers let his phone slide out of his hand and it landed on the carpet gently. Groaning, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Everything that Mistral, (no, Mayumi, he corrected himself) said was correct, and he knew it, which made it even harder to accept. Something that he certainly did have trouble with was reconciling the image of a sensible young-ish housewife and mother with the shrieking treasure hunter Wavemaster that followed him through dungeons with not even a thought of the danger that befell them. The two seemed to be incompatible...yet this was the true nature of reality. Kenji didn't even know how he managed to lose himself in the online identity of Kite the Twin Blade back in the old days when the clash between both worlds was so painfully evident, now that he took a step back and distanced himself from the game and was rewarded with the ability to see everything clearly.

"Clearly..." Kenji murmured, watching his reflection in the mirror above the sink. It seemed to grow dim and yet again he found himself questioning just what he was trying to achieve by avoiding his friends and the game. Nothing was clear in the end, everything was blurred...he turned the tap on and splashed his face with cold water several times to snap him out of this line of thinking that would no doubt lead to an existential crisis later down the track. He had to think about this with a clear mind, a fresh perspective... The note on the table dashed out in haphazard kanji and kana informed Kenji's mother that he had gone out for a walk and had taken the money he had left over from last night in case he grew peckish and wanted breakfast.

It was a cool morning and Kenji had grabbed his trusty scarf again. After the events of last night, a lot of Tokyo inhabitants would still be sleeping off last night's party in the park. However, the capital never slept and even now various people were setting off to work in suits and office clothing. Kenji smiled wryly, glad that he'd managed to avoid today's shift. Today's commercial world was merciless when it came to holidays, and as he wandered errantly, Shirogawa would no doubt be heading off to the department store now. He arrived at the park in no time, where half-disassembled marquees were scattered around and iron poles were strewn over the unofficial soccer pitch. Sitting down on the bench, he tilted his head back skywards, closed his eyes and began to think.

It was true that he had quit the game to concentrate on his school work, and it was a priority. Mayumi did seem to understand that. However, it was also true that he'd quit without warning. If he put himself in the shoes of his friends...if he was playing and BlackRose disappeared without a single word for two whole years- azure eyes drowning in guilt appeared as footsteps jolted him out of his reverie.

"Kenji." A voice curtly acknowledged him and although his insides wrenched horribly at it, he forced himself to meet the gaze of the teenager standing opposite him, a soccer ball held under his right arm. He looked at the short, slightly scruffy black hair, past the glasses that the boy wore and into the blue eyes he used to know.

"Yasuhiko." A moment of acknowledgement; then Kenji's ex-best friend turned away, walking onto the soccer pitch with a few friends. Closing his eyes again, Kenji reflected on the mention of Wiseman by Mayumi yesterday. So Wiseman reckoned he had the Twin Blade figured out? He ought to prove them wrong...the fact that the Wavemaster had the gall to psychoanalyse him set alight a flicker of annoyance in him that could be fanned into roaring flames, should he be provoked further. Perhaps he should have emailed them, informed them that due to commitments in real life, he would be quitting the game. He conceded that, but he remembered the final dungeon he went through with Elk...fifteen floors, a dangerously high infection rate after so many Data Drains performed on all those Data Bugs.

The fact that a place like that still existed was prime evidence of how dangerous the game was. He shivered as he remembered the lancing pain of the bracelet as he used Data Drain, the after-effects when his infection level increased... He remembered the words of that man he'd met briefly, that he should stick to what he believed in. He hadn't fought hard enough to prove his view point, and hadn't even tried to explain... Clenching his fist around his house keys, Kenji opened his eyes, resolute. He would do what he should have done two years ago.

* * *

_From: Kite_

_To: All contacts_

_Subject: Sorry_

_To everyone,_

_I'm sorry. Two years ago I left you all without saying a word. I should have explained why I quit without leaving you in the dark. School work is part of my reason, but this is my main motivation._

_Soon after we defeated Corbenik and all the players in comas awoke, I was invited to a field by Aura. I took Elk and BlackRose to this field. Thinking it to be a normal field, we proceeded through it as normal...but we activated a monster portal. In this monster portal was a Data Bug. After we defeated it, we went on to the dungeon, assuming that it was an odd occurrence and a leftover anomaly, we entered the dungeon._

_There were fifteen floors' worth of Data Bugs. By the time we reached the end of the dungeon, my bracelet's infection rate was as near 100% as it was physically possible to be without disastrous consequences and we even lost two or three levels thanks to the side-effects. I realised then that the game wasn't as safe as I thought. Yes, the Phases (the most immediate threat to players) were eliminated, but if anyone can venture into a field full of Data Bugs, then anyone could be put into a coma. I didn't warn you about this, and again, I can only apologise. _

_I also quit partly because I hoped that you would quit too and stay safe. Without my warnings, you would have no way of understanding what I wanted. Please, I implore of you, take heed of everything I've said and reconsider whether the game is safe enough to play._

_Stay safe,_

_Kite _

Akira didn't know what to think. She had awoken to a new email on her desktop, and as she read the name of the sender she frantically clicked it, her heart pounding madly. Yet the tone of it was too formal, too cautious...too distant to be the Kite she knew. At least he was still alive- on her more senseless days, she sometimes imagined that he had gotten into a car accident or some other catastrophe and scared herself silly. Did he not understand that as the bearer of the Bracelet, it was his responsibility to protect them from Data Bugs? Then an imaginary Kite rose unbidden into her mind, hat missing, fringe concealing his tired eyes.

"_Maybe I'm tired of all the responsibility...real life has responsibilities too, like schoolwork." _His voice echoed in her mind and she wanted to reach out, to take his arm and tell him that it was alright, that she understood and that she'd support him no matter what. But this email was disheartening to read...then a buzzing noise distracted her and she turned to her mobile phone.

"Hello?" She picked it up and the voice on the other end eased her frown,

"Um, hello, this is Kenji. Akira-san?" She nodded before remembering she couldn't see him,

"That's me. I kind of expected you to wait a little while before calling me..." He forced a laugh.

"Well, I wanted to hang out. I'm not doing anything today and I have work tomorrow, so I wanted to do something with today." Akira didn't have to be an expert in reading people to work out that there was something bothering him- he sounded so tense that he might snap at the weakest pressure.

"Ah, sure!" She answered delicately. "You're in luck- my schedule is clear of tennis practice, so I'm free."

"You play tennis?" He asked, his voice still strained and she turned off the computer monitor, getting involved in the conversation,

"Yeah, it's my favourite sport."

"That's good. I used to know someone who was fanatical about tennis." She lowered the phone to look at the caller ID, her face scrunched up in confusion. Reminiscing usually filled people with a nostalgic happiness, so why did he still sound unhappy? Raising the phone back up to her ear, she commented lightly,

"You don't sound too keen. You don't like tennis? Or maybe you didn't like whoever it was?"

"No!" He cried and she winced. "No, that is, I don't mind it..." She had hit a sore spot. _Fault. _"It's just...it was a while ago. We haven't spoken in a long time." He didn't seem too angry at her and she probed carefully,

"Oh, I understand how it is. I know that feeling myself. A friend who you care about quite a lot, but who you fall out of contact with."

"...Something like that. Can we meet up?" _Fifteen-love. _She had solved the problem in one stroke and he didn't react adversely. No doubt she could tease it out of him if they met.

"See you at Tokyo Central in two and a half hours. Is it breakfast or brunch?" Kenji didn't seem to have considered the meeting that thoroughly,

"I'm sorry?" Akira explained patiently.

"Will we be eating breakfast or brunch? It's pretty early right now."

"Oh...I forgot. Yeah. I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Kenji seemed to be snapping out of whatever it was that was eating away at him. Akira smiled softly at his considerateness.

"No, no, I've been up for a while now. So see you then! Platform four!" She hung up on him before he could reply and nodded in satisfaction. Now that she thought about it, this would be a welcome distraction from Kite's email. She could get to know her newest friend and forget everything for a while...

* * *

The Twin Blade ran through the snowy field, oblivious to the cold despite the length of her dress. Apart from her green hair, she blended in well with her surroundings thanks to her blue dress and wave markings. She was too strong for this field to be of any benefit to her in terms of levelling up- she had come here to find the Gott Statue, take the treasure and blow off some steam. When the monsters that appeared here could be killed in one to about five hits, it was easy to take out frustration on them.

She entered the dungeon after a few minutes of tearing apart the field portals. The dungeon would have been as cold as the field could the Twin Blade feel anything, with its forbidding stone interior and tiled floor. She made it to the stairs to the second floor, carving through the dungeon monsters too- tougher than the field ones they may have been, but they were nothing to a Twin Blade pushing level ninety. What she didn't expect was for a Wavemaster to appear behind her as she stepped onto the stairs downwards.

"Natsume-chan!" The Twin Blade whirled around, holding up her Spiral Edge blades defensively. They may have been weak, but they were a gift that she treasured almost as much as the giver himself. Upon recognising the robed girl opposite her, she lowered them genially, smile breaking out on her face.

"Mistral-san! What are you doing here?" She grinned, her sharp teeth showing.

"I had to use a Speed Charm to catch up! Have you heard what Wiseman has been saying?" Natsume tilted her head inquiringly. She didn't generally spend time in the presence of Wiseman as they came from different spheres. Wiseman was a hardcore player and knowledge hunter, she was someone who played to change herself and have fun. "Well, he's trying to get everyone to come to a meeting in Net Slum." Natsume's eyes widened. Nobody ever went to Net Slum anymore, and she thought that Balmung had once said that Helba had closed the door to 'Paradise' afer the Twilight Incident ended.

"Why? Has something happened again?" Mistral shook her head, answering her in a soothing voice,

"No, don't worry, all is safe!" Then she whispered conspiratorially, "It's about finding Kite!" Natsume felt her cheeks burning, and glad that her FMD couldn't transmit it into virtual reality, she stammered,

"I g-got his email. Is the g-game really that dangerous?" Mistral sounded thoughtful, her whimsical tone fading slightly.

"Well, I guess it is. I did stop playing because I was worried, that was just before I had my baby. Kite seemed really stressed back when I didn't understand that it all wasn't just an event." The twin blade grimaced.

"When is the meeting?" Mistral twirled around to leave, her robes flowing as she moved,

"Tomorrow at midday." Golden rings circled her as she vanished. Natsume stared at the space where the Wavemaster had been, only moving to slaughter a monster in one hit as it ran at her from the distance.

* * *

Kenji watched the train arrive, rubbing his eyes tiredly. It slowed to a halt and before long, the doors opened. As he waited for Akira to emerge, a red-haired girl and a brown-haired adult emerged. They looked foreign.

"Let's go. What do you want to see first?" The man asked the girl, and she commented shyly, clearly unnerved by all the people around her.

"I...I would like to see the historical sites." Then she stumbled verbally, "I not know..._Do I have to talk in Japanese to you, Mr. Stevenson?" _Kite frowned at the gibberish she was speaking, realising that her Japanese was very formal and she had a very slight accent.

"Come on, Hotaru, we're in Japan so we should be practising the language. Call me Sanjuro- if we're going to speak Japanese properly, we should take a native name." _Gaikokujin, _of course. Kenji couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Sanjuro wasn't exactly a common name nowadays. The man then took out a map, fumbling with it as it unfolded. After looking at it, his lips pursed and he approached Kenji suddenly. "Excuse me, can you tell me where the nearest tourist information centre is?" He had no trace of an accent, and Kenji was impressed.

"Oh, right, yes. After you leave the station, turn right and follow the road to the crossing. It should be on your left." He couldn't help himself, "I overheard you back there. You...that is, you do know that Sanjuro is a slightly archaic name?" 'Hotaru' approached them shyly, hiding behind the man as much as possible. Sanjuro smirked,

"Yeah, yeah. I'm a fan of samurai films, so I figured I would take my name from there. I'm here with the daughter of one of my friends. She wanted to visit Japan but she needed someone to accompany her, and since it's the school holidays for us, I volunteered to come." Kenji asked,

"You're a teacher?" The man nodded,

"Yup, I teach Japanese. But Hotaru here," he gestured to her and she smiled awkwardly, "-taught herself. Her mother's Japanese, but she plays 'The World' on the Japanese server to practise. I do that too, actually-" Kenji stopped listening and almost slapped his forehead in frustration. He had the worst luck in the world! How on earth could he meet an American in the middle of Japan after quitting the damn game? Luckily, at that moment Akira stepped off the train and Kenji turned to wave at her,

"That's really cool- I wish I had that kind of motivation to follow my dream. Uh, I have to meet my friend now." Sanjuro nodded coolly and began to leave,

"Right. Thanks for the directions. Let's go, Hotaru." Kenji exhaled in relief as Akira came face to face with him, looking pleased to see him.

"Okay, I'm here. What next?" She was wearing a polo shirt, a skirt and trainers, looking rather sporty. Kenji wondered if she dressed like this for tennis practice or whether it was her usual outfit, almost missing her next words, "Are we gonna have some brunch or what?" He blinked,

"Oh, right! Well, um...do you like video games?" Akira looked skywards, thinking for a minute. Then she answered,

"No." Kenji deflated, but she interrupted his disappointment, "-actually, I did play this online game once, so maybe video games aren't that bad. What were you thinking of?" The boy looked up, meeting her eyes with a sly grin...

* * *

The short-haired girl watched the pair playing an arcade game silently, hiding behind another machine. The boy- her friend Kenji, was currently losing, his sword-wielding and rather scrawny character being absolutely battered by a scantily-clad fist-fighter controlled by an unfamiliar girl. It didn't help that they seemed to be having such fun. She turned away with a growl, leaving the arcade. As she emerged, she kicked over a trash can out of jealousy and anger. Why was her friend Kenji (and twin blade hero Kite) hanging around with a stranger, two years after he'd begun to reject her friendship, become a recluse and move house? The last point was the most frustrating- it was all very well that the Ishida family could afford to move up in the world after Kenji's father's pay rise, but Kenji didn't even bother to give her his new address or phone number. Slinking away, she contemplated a way to fix things...


	6. Paradise

_A/N: Sorry, this chapter probably seems a little...dead on its feet at points. I struggled a bit with it, but here it is! Also, if it's easier to read double-spaced, please let me know- I use wordpad because it helps with the creativity, so I don't format it in Word. Watch out for the red herring in this chapter (I may have made it too difficult)! Also, I realise that this needs moar The World action- I forgot why I fell in love with .hack in the first place: for its beautiful virtual reality! Finally, another apology for content- upon consulting .hack timeline, it seems that Hotaru is playing The World a year earlier than she should be! Well, I do claim AU. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Six: Paradise**

The circle of people gathered in the dilapidated city waited, too on edge to converse with each other. Their leader hadn't arrived yet, and nor had their toughest member.

"Sorry I'm late!" A call came from the orange-streaked sky and the flutter of feathers was heard. Looking up, the group saw a winged knight descend from the top of a skyscraper, landing neatly as his wings twitched. "I'm here. Who do we have so far?" A tall, elderly-looking Wavemaster nodded in greetings.

"Lord Balmung. We currently have most of the dot hackers. We are missing Nuke Usagimaru, Rachel, Lord Orca and BlackRose." Balmung nodded grimly, frowning at the information.

"Thanks, Wiseman. Helba hasn't arrived yet, so we can afford to wait." Their ringleader, the Queen of the Dark, was tardy and without her, less progress would be made. She had the skills and resources at her disposal to find their missing hero. The news that his partner Orca was missing was disheartening. The blademaster had fallen out with Kite apparently, and they still did not talk. What it was about, Orca refused to disclose, but Balmung believed that it must have been quite a fight for it to render Orca abnormally sullen. He had attempted to drag it out of him during numerous dungeon runs and events, but each time Orca withdrew and closed up, similar to a clam when prodded. The exasperated Descendant of Fianna had given up in the end, consulting Wiseman who had eventually churned out a profile for Kite- it looked like he had changed for the worse. Of course, Balmung of the Azure Sky would not allow this to go without action, and he had spent a good few evenings in discussion with Wiseman. He didn't want to lose one of his few partners- he had been a solo player for too long.

"What of BlackRose?" Wiseman seemed to be reading his thoughts, and Balmung couldn't help but grin- the Wavemaster had faultless intuition and enough wisdom for a good few people. The feisty Heavy Blade hadn't been online as much in the past few years, especially since Kite had vanished. She still kept in contact with everyone through sporadic emails, and it was rumoured that she had a friendship with Mistral in the real world, so nothing to worry about there. The Blademaster shrugged calmly,

"If she doesn't turn up, we can contact her and sum up what happened. She'd be...what..."

"Eighteen and on the verge of graduation." Mistral added suddenly, appearing in the crowd of players. Wiseman inclined his head formally and Balmung felt at ease. Her shrieking treasure-hunter persona had of late been replaced by a caring and astute one, something that Wiseman put down to being a mother. "Don't worry, Baltan, I'll keep her informed!" She stuck her tongue out and Balmung's smile became forced for a moment. Mistral hadn't lost her sense of mischief...then he looked to the centre of the group as a PC appeared in golden rings.

"Welcome to Paradise, dot hackers." The mellifluous voice of Helba, Queen of the Dark echoed out and she bowed. Balmung's grin defrosted and he waved,

"Hey, Helba, long time no see!" Above the sudden rush of conversation, she chuckled and levitated over to Balmung. Then, after a conspiratorial glance over her shoulder, she murmured,

"Congratulations on the successful job application. When do you get instated?" Balmung preened, his wings twitching as he did so and Wiseman smirked slyly in amusement.

"Within the next six months. I need a bit of training to teach me how to use the admin controls, but they pretty much said that I was the only candidate that had the skills." Then the Wavemaster cut in, his usually austere face winking at Helba,

"So basically, they chose you because you're old. Oh, and because you're addicted to this game...and you're stuck-up enough to be the perfect self-righteous admin who adheres rigidly to the rules even if they're wrong."

Somewhere, the CC Corp staffer behind the PC Lios sneezed violently several times.

Balmung winced- a direct hit to his pride! Then he managed a comeback, squinting at Wiseman,

"N-no! Because I'm a veteran, I had enough time to devote to playing the game and because I have a healthy respect for the rules!" He flailed and another voice joined him,

"Of course, he of the azure skies is correct! He of fair eyes was aided greatly in the struggle against the Phases by our winged knight, and to disrepect his contribution would be just- just criminal!" Everyone's eyes bulged as Piros the Silver White sprang forward, twirling around as he stuck up for Balmung. "Piros the Silver White is here! Let us discuss the case of our missing leader!" He exclaimed with an asisde to Balmung, "Congratulations on the job! I have heard of it of course, seeing as I already work for the CC Corp!" Balmung facefaulted as he learned that he would be forced to socialise with Piros offline and hoped that Piros wasn't like this in real life as Helba quieted the group.

"Thank you for coming here today. I've called you here because Wiseman contacted me about the disappearance of our friend Kite, and I decided it was an important matter." Helba opened her mouth to speak again as someone else appeared,

"Sorry, everyone! I had trouble finding an internet cafe."

"Sanjuro!" The samurai was greeted by Moonstone, who respected his strength and Gardenia nodded to him. Sanjuro explained,

"I got the email, but I don't have internet access at the hotel I'm staying at." Then he smiled sheepishly, "I'm actually in Japan right now, visiting." Helba raised her hands to hush them,

"Welcome to the country, Sanjuro, I hope you enjoy your stay. But first we must discuss this." Then a crystallised screen and keyboard appeared before her and she typed in a few commands. "I understand that everyone here got an email from Kite?" There were various comments of assent, and Helba added, "I have reason to believe that Kite's account has not been hacked." She spoke over the protests, "I know that a few people thought this because the tone of the email, but I think things have changed." The hacker watched the reaction of everyone before speaking authoritatively, "We at least know that nothing has happened to Kite...so I say that we leave him alone."

"What?"

"But-!"

"Huh?" Outrage greeted this statement and Helba raised her voice,

"My place is to meddle in online affairs, not offline. We all have our own lives to live, and if Kite wishes to conduct his entirely offline, it is his choice. It isn't fair if we try to change this." Her words sounded final and her tone brooked no arguing. Sanjuro grunted sourly,

"Invite us here just to spoil our hopes, and I spent a lot of time trying to find an access point."

"Abandon Kite." Moonstone commented emotionlessly. Terajima Ryoko's voice sounded shaky, as if she was holding back tears,

"You're letting Kite go? What if he's still upset about us still playing? We have to talk to him!" Helba watched impassively, expecting this kind of reaction. Suddenly, Marlo, who had remained silent up until now, exploded,

"Ain't that the way- Miss high and mighty hacker queen thinks she can tell us what to do and lets us down when it's most important. Who the hell does she think she is anyway?" This was the straw that broke the camel's back,

"Yeah! She has the skills to find Kite, why wouldn't she?"

"There has to be something in it for her!"

"She's mysterious, we don't actually know if we can trust her!"

"In that case, there is no point remaining here." Helba spoke in her usual lyrical tone, leading everyone to wonder whether she was angry or not.

"Helba-sama-" The woman turned her back, her dress sweeping the ground,

"You may leave now." When nobody made a move to gate out, she waved her staff-

Balmung frowned, confused momentarily by the sudden warping of his surroundings. He found himself in a fire field, the magma-ground under his feet shifting continuously. Turning his head, he saw Wiseman. The Wavemaster looked rather ruffled. Then more and more people were appearing over the field.

"It would seem that Helba has closed Paradise to us." He commented, his relaxed demeanour giving way to his previous stoic knight personality. Marlo then cursed a blue streak, logging out straight away. This triggered a slew of disappearances, and as confused dot hackers stood, littered around the field, the knight made his decision. "Well, it probably is not prudent to pursue it..." Then his eyes twinkled, giving a half-lidded glance to Wiseman, "...but it seems like we will have to arrange this manhunt ourselves." The small group of players tensed.

"...is this wise, Baltan?" Mistral asked gently, and the knight paused in what he was doing,

"Hm?" He received a party invite and accepted it, curious as to why she was doing this.

_Mistral: I don't think Kite wants to be disturbed. _She wanted to use party chat to talk to Balmung privately!

_Balmung: What makes you say that? I saw his email, but how do we know that he isn't hiding something?_

_Mistral: I talked to him briefly. _She left it hanging on purpose, obfuscating her meaning. Balmung unfortunately didn't pick up on her hint that they'd talked in real life- she didn't mean by messages or emails.

_Balmung: What did he say? _ Wiseman had left them to their conversation, discussing the matter with Gardenia and Sanjuro. Mistral replied lightly,

_Mistral: He was focusing on exams and school...and also that he wanted everyone to be safe. Make of that what you will. _Balmung nodded.

_Balmung: You have to understand, Mistral-san, that Kite is not just a friend but also a hero. He's worked hard to make this world safe for us all, he's been there in times of trouble for us and he's the glue that holds the dot hackers together. I think that we want to make sure that he's alright. His email was uncharacteristic of him. _

Mistral suddenly switched out of party chat,

"Okay, let's find Kite-kuuun~" She squealed and Wiseman stepped forwards.

"If I may, I have a proposition." The few remaining dot hackers, the core group that had fought against the Phases paid attention. "We will need to co-ordinate our search in the real world. This could mean exchanging personal details such as cellphone numbers. Would you all be happy to do this?" He asked delicately, and was pleasantly surprised when nobody raised an objection. "I'm not sure where to start looking..." Then Gardenia made a comment which surprised everyone as few people had heard her talk.

"Orca."

* * *

Akira ate another scoop of the strawberry ice cream sundae in front of her, enjoying the treat while Kenji watched. He'd had some filling beef stew and he wasn't one for desserts. Akira had mocked him in a manner that reminded Kenji of someone he couldn't quite remember. He'd taken it without so much as a witty reply and Akira had seemed disappointed.

"So what do you like? Hobbies and stuff. If we're supposed to be friends, we should know at least this about each other, right?" She tilted her head inquiringly at him and he looked away in embarrassment at her rapt expression.

"W-well, I like science fiction novels." Daring to glance at Akira, he noticed with surprise that she hadn't attempted to conceal any amusement at that geeky trait, and he continued, encouraged, "I also like soccer, though I'm not part of a club right now. "Sometimes, I build models...oh, I forgot! I'm also part of a naginata club-"

"Hahahaha!" Akira burst out laughing, clutching her sides and Kenji wilted. Wiping a mirthful tear from her eye, she apologised, "Sorry, it's just the image of a boy practising naginatajutsu..." Kenji didn't perk up, and she continued, "Hey, aren't you gonna say something?" He didn't really know what to say and a feeble defence of the sport would be worse than remaining silent, so he kept his mouth shut. Akira seemed disappointed, but moved on. Kenji looked slightly confused as he tried to recall a vague memory of this happening before- someome berating him for not speaking up when it was most important to. "Are you gonna ask me about my hobbies or not?"

"S-so what do you like?" Kenji forced out and his friend looked thoughtful, listing them off and counting them on her fingers.

"Well, tennis is my number one hobby. My dream is to play at Wimbledon one day...I also like swimming. I guess you could say I'm sporty!" She grinned and Kenji paused. When she smiled like that, looking proud and almost fierce, she resembled...BlackRose.

* * *

Mistral turned to see a Wavemaster with a troubled expression. He had always looked timid when their paths had crossed (not often), and right now he looked as if something was bothering him. Feeling her maternal instincts rising to the forefront, she spoke gently,

"Hello, Elk. Are you alright?" The wavemaster was shy, she knew that much, but evidently her maternal aura was managing to cross the virtual boundary, as he was encouraged enough to speak up.

"I w-want to help find Kite..." Mistral nodded sagely- "-but I...I need help. Mia's gone missing..." His voice wavered and Mistral drew closer to him, putting an arm round his shoulders. Despite being the very image of a mother, inside various emotions were raging for superiority. She had heard of Mia being the sixth Phase and Kite's email had explained the peril that they had faced trying to bring her back. But Kite had confided in her that Mia was the only true friend Elk had (almost as if foreshadowing that he would disappear and abandon Elk, thus not living up to the criteria of true friend) and the poor boy always looked weighed down by sorrow. Elk looked up at her in confusion as she pondered this, and she spoke up brightly,

"I was just thinking! There are two things we can do." Elk gazed at her expectantly and she expanded on them, "We can ask Helba to get involved, because if anyone can find a player in the game, it's her. Also, if we find Kite, he can protect us if anything gets in our way!" Elk replied glumly,

"But Helba's angry. She locked us out of Net Slum." The boy was more astute than people gave him credit for, Mistral decided, and she patted his head reassuringly.

"We'll sort it. We just need someone to apologise to her and explain that we aren't all as rude as Marlo." Suddenly Elk stuttered,

"I'll d-do it, I'll contact h-her!" His determination showed and Mistral found herself smiling at him.

"Go, Elk! If you don't have her contact details, ask Wiseman." Elk nodded and then wandered off towards the Wavemaster conversing with Balmung. Mistral made to leave the area when she noticed a lone Twin Blade standing in the middle of the field, motionless. She walked over to the Twin Blade, baffled by her inaction. "Natsume!" Mistral called, and Natsume fixed a piercing gaze on her.

"Mistral." Her voice was oddly flat, and alarm bells began to ring in Mistral's mind.

"...Is everything alright?" The Wavemaster asked and Natsume hung her head, green hair concealing her eyes. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Natsume spoke quietly,

"I don't want to look for Kite." Mistral's eyes widened- Natsume had latched on to Kite after he gave her the Spiral Blades, always looking to reimburse him through her help. She had trained incessantly to be useful to him and viewed him as a hero. Her hero-worship of him seemed quite tame compared to the way Terajima Ryoko idolised him, but there was a missing link somewhere that Mistral hadn't figured out yet. "He ran away for a reason. Why chase him." Mistral was taken aback by Natsume's listless tone and attempted to explain,

"Well, he's a friend. He helped us out, like when you were in that high-level dungeon and he turned up just as you were struggling. He might need our help this time, but we can't aid him if he's vanished." Natsume spat,

"He's moved on!" She looked up sharply, glaring at the kindly Wavemaster. "He doesn't need us anymore. He threw us away in favour of real life and some...some older girl!" Then she vanished suddenly and Mistral watched the space that she had previously occupied for a few minutes.

"...Wow."

* * *

Akira ran as fast as she could, the wind messing up her hair. She glanced behind her and saw that Kenji was catching up. With a competitive grin on her face, she picked up the pace and began to accelerate.

"Can't catch me!" She teased, not even looking back to see Kenji's reaction. He called back, breath slightly ragged,

"You just wait!" He then stopped talking, using all his energy to run as fast as he could, suddenly drawing level with Akira. She glanced sideways at him and decided to end the competition, feeling slightly out of breath,

"First one to the ramen stand wins!" She pointed, almost hitting Kenji by accident as he took advantage of her distraction to hurry ahead. A few hundred metres in front of them, there was a ramen stand where a bored-looking man stood waiting for customers. Akira wasn't going to let some girly naginata practitioner win! Calling upon her stamina built up by hours of tennis matches, she sprinted over the last few metres-

"I win!" Kenji boasted, and Akira shook her head, grinning proudly,

"Nuh-uh, I got here first." They squabbled good-naturedly for a few more minutes before a woman, who had been walking past stopped, turned to them and commented off-handedly,

"You both reached the stand at the same time, in my view." The pair stopped and turned to the woman. Despite her being in her mid-thirties, she had a twinkle in her eye and a youthful appearance. Akira replied cheekily,

"That's impossible- he's unfit and I'm a tennis player." Kenji couldn't help but feel embarrassed at the way Akira addressed the woman, and he opened his mouth to apologise-

"I don't think so. The way your friend moves suggests..." She tilted her head, considering her next words, "...suggests a kind of grace. Are you sure he's unfit?" Kenji chuckled, glancing at Akira triumphantly before explaining,

"Well, I've been doing naginatajutsu for a short time." Unfortunately, in his pride he forgot Akira's previous reaction, and as she put a hand over her mouth, masking laughter as coughing, he winced and looked at the woman to see how she took it. A surprised smile grew on her face and she watched him with interest.

"I see! If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you pick a...a different weapon?" She avoided the word 'masculine' in favour of something more polite. "Why not...bojutsu or kendo or even, I don't know, the sai?" She finished craftily and Kenji shook his head.

"Bojutsu's not for me...fighting with a staff isn't offensive...and I'm not the sort for just a sword." Then he frowned, "Sai...they're those daggers with the prongs, aren't they?" The woman nodded and he shook his head, "Too tricky, using those prongs to catch another sword. No, I'd just go for twin daggers instead of sa-" Then he fell silent, eyes widening in horror as he realised that he sounded like a character from 'The World'. Akira nodded, oblivious,

"Yeah, I bet those sai daggers couldn't even block a broadsword! Hey, you know in 'The World', they have Twin Blades. They fight with two daggers, or is it short swords? I bet you'd make a good one." She speculated and Kenji felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. The woman seemed even more interested, if that was possible. Her bright blue eyes scrutinised the pair.

"You play 'The World'?" She addressed Akira, and Akira shook her head ruefully.

"Not exactly. I played it at the time of the Twilight Incident, but I quit." The woman looked down at them, shoulder-length brown hair masking her face slightly as a breeze ruffled it. Kenji felt uncomfortable and he began to mumble,

"Uh, so, we both got here at the same time...well..."

"Well, imouto-san, otouto-san, you're both winners! See you around some time." Both Akira and Kenji were surprised at the way she called them 'little brother' and 'little sister', and Akira watched her retreating form, staring with her mouth slightly open. Kenji shivered as if someone had walked over his grave. That knowing look in her eye before she left, the way she led the conversation, the way she waited as if to confirm something before speaking to them in such a familiar way...

'Helba...?' Akira mouthed and Kenji glanced at her, startled.

* * *

Elk stood in front of the statue of the girl, crimson eyes imploring her for help. The chains that had previously bound her mysteriously disappeared after Corbenik was defeated. The Wavemaster remembered the visage of the goddess as she appeared, thinking to himself that if anyone could grant a wish, it was her. He had nervously asked Wiseman for Helba's member address and got in contact. Wiseman had been surprisingly supportive, considering his enigmatic demeanour.

Elk had written an email, fingers trembling over the keyboard, hair falling over his eyes...he kept meaning to get it cut, but he was spending so much time lately on the computer trying to find Mia that he hadn't had a chance. Even when he wasn't looking for Mia, he was on the computer. The bright light from the computer monitor lit the shadowy room up, illuminating his pale visage.

"Kaoru?" He was forcibly reminded of his _other name _by his mother's muffled voice through his bedroom door. He didn't remove his FMD, simply turning to shout over his shoulder,

"Un?" There was a silence which was irritating to him and awkward to his mother before she replied,

"Will you be eating with us tonight?" Elk considered it- sitting opposite his parents and picking at his food, under the worried and tearful regard of his mother and his father's grim face...at least when he had Mia, he could go to the sanctuary of 'The World'. Now Mia was gone, 'The World' ceased to be a sanctuary and instead became a more colourful mirror image of reality. His existence began in 'The World' when he tried to change, but he didn't succeed and now he was trapped between two mirrors. "Kaoru?" He realised that he hadn't answered.

"...I have...some homework I need to do, Mother." He cocked his head as he listened out for a reply. Was that...?

"Alright, I'll make something for you and keep it for later." No, it wasn't tears- it was a sigh. His mother answered him in a defeated tone and he waited until the sound of footsteps vanished before turning back to the monitor.

"Hello, Elk." A musical voice addressed him and he spun around, staff clutched tightly. He relaxed minimally at the sight of Helba, though her rather scant clothing on her upper half had him embarrassed. The hacker acknowledged his reaction and smiled, "Thank you for the apology. It was very gracious of you." Elk nodded nervously and Helba floated forwards- his eyes widened as he realised that she wasn't walking but levitating. She drew up in front of him and then commented gently, "It must be hard with Kite gone and then Mia vanishing. Do you have anyone else to spend time with?" The Wavemaster shook his head mutely, still clinging to his staff. BlackRose was too scary, Mistral wasn't online too often and Gardenia was...also scary. He didn't know too many of Kite's friends and was too shy to try and get to know them. Helba seemed to understand, and she held a hand out to Elk. A glowing hexagon appeared, floating above her hand and she spoke. "Take these Virus Cores. Your path may lead to difficult places, and these may help you through them."

* * *

Kenji looked up at the sky, reflecting on his day. It had been successful and for the first time in months (or was it even years?), he was happy. He put his hands behind his head and grinned contentedly as he and Akira walked back to the train station. She had treated him like an old friend; he'd felt as if he'd known her for years. He hadn't felt like this with anyone else, not even Yasuhiko or BlackRose...The Heavy Blade had intimidated him and kept her own agenda secret right up until almost the end of everything, and although they'd become partners in their quest, it hadn't started as harmoniously as this friendship. The only disadvantage was that Akira lived in Yokohama- while it was only thirty minutes away on the train, it might be a pain for her to keep commuting. But Kenji wanted to stay in touch...

"So, I guess this is it for today. We should keep in touch, right?" Akira voiced his thoughts and he laughed, nodding.

"Yeah..." Then a thought occurred to him. "And...and I'd be happy to commute too. It'd be unfair to make you waste an hour of your day travelling each time we want to hang out." Akira seemed pleasantly surprised by this and she gave him a heartfelt smile. He felt his cheeks heat up suddenly and frowned- it was unusually warm for this time of day. Akira then frowned as they both heard a ringing sound. She reached into her bag and pulled out a cellphone.

"Sorry, it's Kazu." She apologised before answering the call. "Yeah, what?" Kenji gulped- that confrontational tone went right through him and an image rose unbidden from his mind- a winged knight standing before a Heavy Blade jabbing her finger. "She did not!" He assumed she was arguing with her brother. "I'm not telling you where it is! And don't go running to those internet cafés like you always do! I may not play it anymore but I have my eyes!" The boy deflated. She was talking about 'The World'. For someone who didn't play it anymore, she sure did go on about it. He kicked an empty can that someone had thrown on the ground grumpily as the conversation continued. As they reached the outside of Tokyo Central, Akira ended the call. "Sorry about that, he's so annoying!" Kenji shrugged as nonchalantly as he could.

"That's okay. So...next time, shall I be the visitor?" Akira nodded happily,

"That would be cool. You can see the sights of Yokohama!" Kenji couldn't help but smile- her enthusiasm was infectious! They entered the station and dodged the crowd that signified the rush hour home from work. "Just in time for my train! Thanks for everything today, ands ee you whenever!" Kenji waved her goodbye as she thanked him for paying for their arcade trip and food. She got on the train, vanished from sight briefly and reappeared at a window, smiling and waving at Kenji as the doors closed. The train then set off, slowly accelerating until it was gone.

* * *

The player behind BlackRose booted up her computer, checking her emails. She kept in contact with her friends by email in addition to cellphone and real world contact, and she could get hold of comrades from a bygone era. One such email sat in her inbox.

_To: BlackRose_

_From: Mistral_

_Subject: Kite..._

_Dear BlackRose,_

_I'm assuming you got the email about our meeting._

She had, but she'd been too busy today to attend it...and she'd chosen not to dredge up painful memories of the past.

_We're going to look for Kite! We're co-ordinating with everyone else and we're taking our search to the real world! If you want to be a part of it, just email me with your cellphone number and I'll pass it on to everyone else. I'll also send you everyone else's numbers._

She stared at the words for a moment before looking away, eyes taking on a haunted look. After two years and that final-sounding email, they were still going to chase him. She navigated away from the email and found a new one from...Elk? The shy Wavemaster who didn't socialise with anyone he didn't know?

_To: All contacts_

_From: Elk_

_Subject: Mia_

_Dear Everyone,_

_I know you're Kite's friends...which is why I'm asking you for help. If Kite is your friend, it means that you're good people, or brave or strong. My own friend Mia has gone missing. She's been missing for a week and she's usually always online. Helba said that you were all good people too, and that you could help me. I'm looking for two other people at least to form a team to find Mia. I'm a Wavemaster, so I need a physical fighter to defend me... Also, Helba thinks that the search might be long and difficult, so please don't commit yourself if it'll be a burden..._

BlackRose winced- poor Elk. She had only met him a few times, but he had seemed withdrawn and passive. To have both Kite and Mia disappear on him must have been difficult. She spent a few minutes staring at the screen and deliberating before she decided. She missed the game and her warrior persona...and to help a friend in need was the kind of thing BlackRose would do. Typing up a reply, she set her heart on helping Elk.

_To: Elk_

_From: BlackRose_

_Subject: Mia_

_I'm in._

_

* * *

_

Kenji bounced into his room, pleased with how the day had gone. He had work tomorrow, but for the first time in his life he didn't begrudge his employers those hours he would spend selling things. His parents had been shocked at his upbeat manner when he returned home, but he could see the joy in his mother's eyes. As he got ready for bed, he noticed that his computer was still on. He reached over to it, accidentally nudging the mouse as he turned it off- the screensaver deactivated.

_New emails from Elk, Mistral, BlackRose-_

The screen faded as the whirring of the machine fell silent. Kenji hadn't even noticed that he had received emails. He then turned to look out of his window at the Tokyo sunset. Finally, after two years of bitterness and being tangled in the web cast after 'The World', it was beginning to come to a peaceful end.


	7. Collision

_A/N: Sorry again for the late update! Your reviewing and favouriting of this despite the inactivity has served to motivate me- thank you! My excuses this time round? Exams, video games and projects. But I went to an anime convention and cosplayed Tsukasa, also met a few fellow fans along the way and bought some new .hack stuff (The novel Cell and the LINK manga), which inspired me to get going and finish this chapter! The poem at the start is a clue to the woman that Kenji and Akira met last chapter (NOT Helba :P) _

Chapter Seven: Collision

_The winged one, Descendant of Fianna_

_joins battle- the red hawk strikes;_

_let Avengers and Temptresses fall before him._

_The warrior entwined in black roses_

_searches for justice as the mother of the goddess arises._

_The Rebirth of the goddess takes place_

_before the trio and their legendary companions:_

_their names shall be eroded by the sea of time_

_but let their story be retold._

_- W.B. Yeats, an excerpt_

Golden rings descended as a PC appeared in front of the Chaos Gate. Around the PC, The World turned- the Aqua Capital's numerous canals trickled, turquoise water flowing onwards as they carried empty barges, and the dusky sky hung between nightfall and daybreak. The PC opened her wine-coloured eyes and Mac Anu came into sight, Venetian-style architecture looming over her. The occasional sounds of footsteps reached her ears as players crossed the wooden bridge in the centre of the root town. Stepping forwards, a soft smile appeared on her face as she returned to her second home.

"_Tadaima!_" She murmured and them laughed at herself. A Heaxy Axeman passing by glanced at her before using the Chaos Gate. It was relatively early in the morning and Mac Anu was rather empty- there were a few players scattered here and there. BlackRose wasn't even sure that Elk was awake yet, and she proceeded into the town in a leisurely manner. Coming to the bridge, she stopped and leaned against it. If it had been reality, the wooden railings would be digging into her back. A gaggle of Wavemasters came past, chattering in a language that BlackRose couldn't understand.

"_She's a Heavy Blade!" _

_"Isn't she one of those legendary Japanese players?"_

_"You mean the one that completed the game?" _The most senior looking Wavemaster, wearing robes that made him resemble a venerated priest, shook his head in despair and elbowed the speaker.

"_You can't complete an online game, idiot! But she definitely looks like one of the dot hackers from the BBS postings." _BlackRose felt uncomfortable- they were all staring at her and chatting animatedly... "Excuse me!" The priestly Wavemaster switched to Japanese and BlackRose felt minimally less awkward.

"Yes?" She answered, and the Wavemaster replied,

"You are a dot hacker, yes?" BlackRose raised an eyebrow. She'd heard the reference before, but she'd never found out precisely what it referred to. The Heavy Blade had assumed it was something to do with Helba's field of expertise.

"What's a dot hacker?" This sent the foreigners into a flurry.

"_She doesn't know, of course it's not her!"_

_"It's probably a newbie stealing her character model to look cool!"_

"They completed the game, yes? A Twin Blade and Heavy Blade?" BlackRose twitched as she realised what they were talking about- after just over two years, their fame still hadn't receded and she was left to deal with the Wavemasters as she nodded and they immediately shouted all about her in a garble of Japanese and whatever their native language was. Sweatdropping, she was left to deal with their questions until she received a party invite from "Moonstone." She asked,

"Which one of you is called Moonstone?" The Wavemasters seemed baffled, so she accepted it. As they began to ask questions again, BlackRose suddenly vanished.

* * *

_Delta, Hidden Forbidden Altar_

The water field appeared before BlackRose and she looked around in confusion. The party leader must have warped out, but where was he? Then a Twin Blade appeared next to her and she regarded him in confusion- he was an odd sight, with a mixture of red wave markings and purple dye covering his limbs. His eyes were unseeing, hidden under a red headband and his lower face was obscured by a high collar.

"BlackRose. Kite's friend." He spoke only these few words and the Heavy Blade relaxed.

"Thanks for rescuing me from my fan club!" He nodded, acknowledging her gratefulness before looking around to check that nobody had managed to follow them. Then he stood in silence. BlackRose felt awkward- evidently Moonstone was a man of few words. "Uh...so, what do we do now?" She asked- they were in a field as a party, so was the Twin Blade expecting a dungeon run?

"Wait for Elk." BlackRose raised an eyebrow. Did Moonstone know Elk? She'd been out of the loop for too long and she didn't spend time with many people in Kite's circle of friends except Mistral and occasionally Natsume. They seemed an odd pair... She blinked as she received a flash mail from Elk informing her that he was online. Moonstone twitched, and the Heavy Blade assumed that he'd got one too. He commented, "I'll add Elk. To party." BlackRose shook her head,

"...No. This is Elk's quest. I think he should lead." Moonstone paused, eyeing BlackRose from under his headband. His keen scrutiny made her feel uncomfortable, but he nodded again and disbanded their party. Then they both gated out to meet Elk in Mac Anu.

* * *

Kenji hummed a tune to himself while he stacked shelves, bouncing on his heels as he moved along the aisles. Shirogawa Kyou, his colleague, stared after him, flabbergasted. Kenji was very out of character this morning- it was an early shift and Kyou was beginning to think that Hashimoto hated them... Despite the early start, Kenji was lively and even cheerful, greeting Kyou with a nod and a wave before getting straight down to his job. There were only two possibilities as to why this was happening, the co-worker thought. Either someone had slipped antidepressants into Kenji's breakfast, or he had found...

"A GIRLFRIEND?" Kyou exclaimed, bug-eyed, and Kenji turned around in the middle of putting boxes on shelves,

"Hm?" He looked back at Kyou, who immediately winced, expecting a rage-filled reaction, but upon seeing that Kenji looked distracted and was attempting to stack shelves while making eye contact, the ex-Silver Knight decided to have some fun, evil smile blooming across his visage.

"You're abnormally happy. You must have finally found love!" Kenji's face was immediately flooded with red and he stammered,

"N-no, that's not it!" Then the blush receded as he added defiantly, "Am I not allowed to be happy?" Kyou assumed a knowing smile and flapped his hand at Kenji,

"Sure, sure. If by happy, you mean smitten." Kenji merely replied with a rude gesture, poking out his tongue at Kyou before he got back to work. Shirogawa sighed- the youth still had enough of an attitude to swear at him. He had no time to mull over the newfound attitude of his colleague as a customer appeared with a question to ask. She was a woman in her late twenties to early thirties, it seemed, attractive too.

"Excuse me. Do you exchange equipment?" Shirogawa frowned. The voice sounded familiar.

"What do you mean?" She explained herself again, looking ever so slightly impatient.

"Swap used electronics for money, like they do with computer games in game shops." He felt an odd sense of deja vu as she spoke, and shook his head.

"No, sorry. We only sell new goods." She turned away and walked over to a man in a suit. Shirogawa watched them curiously.

It's no good, Kouji. You're going to have to throw them out." He shrugged with a grin, putting his arm around the woman's shoulder,

"No problem, Machiko. I've renounced that world and chosen this one and you over your Wavemaster." She acted standoffish, pushing him away roughly with a cool look at him, but Shirogawa could guess that she was secretly pleased that he had displayed his affection so openly, a difficult thing to make a man do in public.

"Alright, alright, I get it already. Let's go." The pair moved off as Kenji dusted his hands off, pleased with his work. Shirogawa watched him return, a spring in his step. The teenager checked his watch and shrugged. It hadn't taken him long to sort out the stock, so now it was back to work behind the counter. It was a few hours before their shift ended, and he was counting down the hours until he could escape and contact Akira. It had been almost a week since their last encounter and he was ready to visit her. However, one thing stuck in the back of his mind- the woman who had spoken to them so familiarly when they were out together and Akira's mention of the name "Helba". Casting his mind back to what he remembered of 'The World' and the Queen of the Dark, he surmised that she wasn't generally well-known. Her name was probably the only aspect of her that was known to a large amount of players back then. For someone to know her name wasn't common, but wasn't extraordinary either. However, it was curious that Akira would automatically leap to the conclusion that someone who seemed to know them in real life could be Helba. Kenji bit his lip anxiously as he wondered if Helba could track them down with ease. She certainly knew a lot about online affairs and Kenji doubted that there was anything she couldn't do in that realm. But could she go so far as to delve into character records, somehow dig up offline information about players and track someone down?

"He-LLO, earth to Kenji-san, we have a customer!" He almost leapt out of his skin as Shirogawa bellowed in his ear. After coolly slapping the back of Shirogawa's head,

"Don't scare me like that," he politely served the customer and decided that he wouldn't ask Akira about it. Such things would either dredge up the past he preferred to keep buried or make him anxious again. But such an allusion to 'The World' he wanted to escape left him uneasy.

* * *

"Kenji, good afternoon. What can I do for you?" Akira answered the phone within a few rings, pleasant as always. Kenji grinned instinctively, having managed to forget about his earlier qualms.

"Well, if you feel like being a tour guide, I wouldn't mind turning up and looking lost in Yokohama at some point this weekend!" Akira snorted and then enquired,

"How's Saturday? Tennis practice got cancelled because the coach is away." Kenji mentally checked his schedule, grimacing as he hit a roadblock.

"Ah, about that...thinking about it, I'm going to naginatajutsu class since I couldn't make the class in the week thanks to my job, so Sunday would be better..." Akira sounded curious as she took advantage of his pause by jumping in,

"You have a job? I didn't know that! What do you do? A paper delivery round?" He shook his head, momentarily forgetting she couldn't see him.

"No, I work for the electronics section in a department store." Akira hummed thoughtfully,

"Would you get discounts on stuff like those FMDs they play 'The World' with?" Kenji's face automatically changed as if he had eaten an entire lemon, expression sour,

"Bleh, why would I want one of those? I don't play that stupid game and it's a waste of time." Akira sounded slightly surprised at his strong objection.

"Whoa, okay, okay!" Then she began to laugh, utterly confusing him. "Hahahaha! Hehe! Priceless!" He opened his mouth, on the verge of asking what on earth she found funny- "You hate 'The World' yet your job involves selling the game and all its components! What irony!" Kenji replied dourly,

"Ironic it may be, but I make money. What do I care if someone foolishly decides to play it?" Akira took some time to reply and he hesitated, coming to himself slowly. Was that a bit too grumpy?

"I...see." She pronounced delicately. "Foolish. You...don't like the game then?" Kenji answered with less heaviness,

"...No. It's just not for me."

Akira hung up after saying her goodbyes. It had been arranged that they would meet on Sunday, but Kenji's sudden burst of moodiness was what lingered in her mind. As she laid on her bed, arms behind her head, staring sightlessly at the computer, she wondered what would make him so. Someone that aggressive about an average computer game must have reason to react in that way when it was mentioned. The only thing she could think of, which frightened her slightly, was the Twilight Incident. He had told her the last time they met that he had quit after that. Perhaps he had a friend who was a coma victim and begrudged the game for stealing away his friend's consciousness? Akira sighed deeply. She had sometimes found it difficult to log on after visiting Kazu, sometimes out of hatred because the game had ripped his consciousness from his body and left him a shell on a ventilator, sometimes out of a deep-rooted fear that crawled up her legs until it reached her stomach and made it churn nauseatingly. She had risked falling comatose just to find out what had happened to him. But thanks to...Kite...she paused as she recited his name in her mind, wondering if everyone had started to chase him yet... thanks to him, every coma victim had woken up. There hadn't been a single fatality and everyone had received a happy ending. So why would Kenji harbour such rage towards the game if his theoretical friend had awoken? At last she shrugged. Everyone reacted differently to different things. Everyone was unique. Something that might make Yuuko burst into tears might simply irritate her slightly. She acknowledged that Kazu's situation back then had caused her stress, but she had accepted that Kite had made the game safe again. Her residual anxiety and fear had gradually receded until everything returned to normal. But perhaps whatever had happened to Kenji had managed to injure his psyche, to leave lasting bitterness. Perhaps he should talk to someone about it. She settled on sending him a message. He could delete it or ignore it if he wanted, he wouldn't feel as pressured to respond as to a phone call, which was something immediate.

Kenji entered his house as his phone buzzed. Pulling it out of his pocket, he flipped it open.

_If you want to talk about anything, I'm always ready to listen. If there's something wrong and it's been wrong for too long, it's not good for you. You should talk about it, no matter who with. _

It was from Akira. He closed the phone with conflicting emotions warring for dominance, indignation at her meddling struggling against an unpleasant sensation of weakness, which in turn fought against slight affection towards the young woman for sensing his consternation and offering some support. He decided not to reply until his mind was clearer, which it would be after tomorrow's naginatajutsu class.

* * *

Kuchinashi Ayaka inclined her head as the sole male of the naginatajutsu class entered the room which served as a dojo. He had turned up to one class each week, always quiet, always obediently following her instruction. Last week he had changed somewhat- he seemed a lot happier but was lacksadaisical in some of his katas. She almost hadn't the heart to reprimand him, instead passing simple remarks on his mistakes, which he sheepishly yet eagerly corrected. As he entered the room, she couldn't sense any of the happiness that had been present within him last time. He seemed...focused, if anything, ready to participate in this class. He began to throw on the required uniform for the class, putting on his helmet last.

As was her habit, she started the class with a warm-up spar session, everyone changing partner every few minutes until she arrived at Kenji. He nodded to her, face obscured by the helmet that everyone was required to wear. "Spar!" She called in her clear voice and they began. His movements were slow, sweeping, yet considered. As their naginata shafts clashed several times, Kenji began to exert more of his strength, turning this warm-up into more of a battle. Ayaka fended off several thrusts in quick succession, batting them aside gracefully before whirling the shaft of her naginata to trip Kenji. He stabbed his wooden spear point onto the floor and her naginata slammed against it, blocked by his defensive manoeuvre. He then moved his naginata from the vertical position, arcing it as he went for his own strike. Ayaka hopped backwards and it swung past her. Before long, she noticed that everyone else had slowed and stopped, watching their battle. It took a good few minutes before she decided to end it, batting Kenji left with a strike to the side of his ribs, then right, catching him off balance as she thrust the naginata, sending him flying backwards and onto the floor. A few gasps were heard as the plastic armour protecting him thudded against the padded floor. He lay unmoving, almost as if the fight were real and she had slain him. She merely asked calmly,

"Are you alright?" His voice, muffled, replied,

"I'm fine." She left him to his own devices as she halted the warm-up, and within a few minutes he was on his feet, right as rain. His armour had protected him from the rib strikes, merely serving to unbalance him rather than bruise anything. After some kata practice, in the break he sat against the wall, knees up to his chest, helmet still on. Ayaka went and sat next to him.

"You are alright, yes?" She checked, and he nodded slowly. "You fought well." Her compliments were usually spartan, devoid of any particularly flowery or embellished praise. But that was enough for those who knew her and those in the club. He nodded again and they sat in companionable silence for a short while. "You picked a real fight." She remarked on the warm-up that was supposed to be only a short and energetic piece of combat, only a few blows traded either way. "Perhaps it is therapeutic." She thought she heard him laugh wryly.

"Perhaps." He spoke. Ayaka sensed that it was therapeutic because he had something to exorcise in throwing himself into combat where all concentration was on defense and offense rather than idle thoughts. She offered an ear nonchalantly,

"I have time after the club. There is a coffee bar downstairs." Kenji was silent for what seemed like an age before he murmured slowly,

"It might seem foolish, what I would say." Ayaka said nothing either way, the model of neutrality.

"Foolish is trifling. If it is trifling, it is foolish. Whether it is trifling is something that you yourself know best." She rose to her feet, helmet in hand, ready to resume the club activities. As she taught them some more advanced feints, she kept an eye on Kenji. He was calmer now, less wound up. After the class wrapped up, she had time to glare piercingly at a few jokers who commented on her sudden attention to the only boy in the class before packing up and catching up with him, her naginatajutsu equipment packed away in a sports bag flung over her shoulder. She pushed open the door, hurried through it and caught him. "It cannot be trifling if it is pestering you." She picked up the thread of the earlier conversation and Kenji wheeled around, looking slightly confused. Then he shrugged apologetically,

"You are a busy person, Kuchinashi-sensei. I don't think that I should waste any of your time on something minor." She allowed herself a small smile of sneakiness,

"So it goes from trifling to minor. Are you sure?" Kenji facefaulted, sighing. Suddenly he was overwhelmed by young women who wouldn't leave him alone with any of his problems. Unbidden, a thought arose in his mind- if this were Yasuhiko, his former friend would probably love the attention. His face grew dark as he allowed himself to acknowledge that he missed Yasu a bit.

"...Where is this coffee place?" Aya turned to lead him there, hiding her victorious expression from him.

* * *

BlackRose and Moonstone stood awkwardly in the back alley of Mac Anu, waiting for their leader. BlackRose had sent him a flash mail to let him know where they were, hiding from prying eyes that knew them as idols. Suddenly a small figure hurried towards them, stopping right in front of them,

"S-sorry I'm late, I couldn't get online and h-had to go to an internet cafe, otou-san c-confiscated the power cable for my computer." A wavemaster with crimson eyes decked in blue and grey apologised. BlackRose was reminded of his timid posture and uncertain intonation by seeing him again, thinking back to the old days. Encouragingly, she smiled gently at him,

"Well, you're here now, so whatever we're going to do, we can do it. You're the party leader." Elk stammered incoherently at that and the Heavy Blade visualised his offline player all flustered, perhaps even blushing. She guided him, "If you invite us to your party, we can start the search for Mia." He fell silent, the name reminding him of what he was here for. Then he invited the pair into the party.

"Helba gave me Virus Cores." He informed the group and Moonstone spoke up,

"She knows." Elk backed away slightly, intimidated by the powerful figure that the Twin Blade cut and BlackRose elaborated,

"If she is giving you Virus Cores, surely that's a hint that she knows where we need to go, right?" Elk shook his head glumly,

"...She couldn't trace Mia...she just gave me them in case I need them." After she had given him the Cores, she had informed him that she was finding it difficult to get a reading on Mia's location. Tracking programs seemed to malfunction and Mia seemed to be able to conceal her online presence. The main question was why she had vanished for no reason. There was nothing that Elk could think of that would drive her away, and the unspoken fact of her existence as an AI only complicated the situation. She couldn't just log off and quit the game. But she wasn't hiding in the Net Slums either. BlackRose folded her arms,

"Well, then we'll just have to do all the detective work. Have you checked out Mia's usual hang-out areas?" Elk nodded, grasping his staff tightly,

"Yes, I a-also sent her messages but she hasn't replied." BlackRose frowned. What else could be done? To her surprise, it was Moonstone who suggested something.

"Kite's email. That dungeon." The pink-haired girl shivered instinctively, memories of that horrible place coming to the surface. Kite had...it was so dangerous, they had lost levels...fifteen floors of unending danger...

"You think we should go back...t-there?" Elk's voice trembled. Moonstone reasoned slowly,

"She was reborn. There." BlackRose at last forced words out, her voice uncharacteristically shrill,

"We need Kite to get through that dungeon!" The Wavemaster sounded depressed when he turned to her,

"But he's gone..." BlackRose couldn't face that dungeon again. It was the only thing that still had the power to make her afraid. When she was with Kite, not even the most monstrous of Phases could give her nightmares. But that dungeon had shaken her confidence...and she reflected on it, chills running up her spine. If the place had scared the fierce Heavy Blade so, she could only imagine what it did to Kite- the heavy responsibility of defeating the thing, the strain of Data Drain, the fear that it might destroy those with him, the risk that he could ruin the very system if his Data Drain got out of control. When she considered these points, she felt sympathy towards Kite, understanding why he would quit. Elk continued to regard her nervously,

"They said they were going to try and f-find Kite...if he won't reply to emails, m-maybe we should find him too? So he can h-help find Mia!" BlackRose encouraged him half-heartedly before excusing herself to clean up a fictional mess created by her younger brother apparently spilling his drink.

* * *

Akira pulled off her FMV and placed it on her desk, turning off her monitor and leaning back in her chair. She didn't know what to do. Kite had quit for a reason, and from the sounds of the email, he wasn't the Kite that she knew. She wasn't going to chase and harass him if he didn't want it. She would respect his right to privacy. But she couldn't help but be slightly curious. In the end, she turned on the monitor to ask Mistral to keep her updated about what was happening in the search. Mistral's reply was prompt, letting her know that they were just getting co-ordinated, but no concrete action had been taken. Akira then fired off another quick email asking to meet up. The woman behind Mistral, Kurokawa Mayumi, was like an older sister to her and had eased her mind before. Mayumi had suggested Sunday, and in all her worry about the Data Bug dungeon, Akira accepted thoughtlessly.

* * *

Ayaka passed the lemonade across the table to Kenji as she sat down. She had denied all his offers to pay for the drinks and had ordered them herself. She herself had chosen coffee. It was a nice little coffee bar in the university campus and Kenji admired the deco before fixing his eyes on the woman opposite him.

"So." She simply said, waiting for him to start. He didn't know where to begin. At last, he managed a wry smile and started,

"When something's up, when something's wrong, sometimes you just want some space. And people pester you about it and don't drop the subject." Ayaka snorted.

"Is that all?" Both of them knew that it wasn't just that, and Kenji slowly added,

"Something happened. In the past. I quit...something. Let's say it was a club. And yet people won't let me forget it or keep chasing me. And I keep bumping into people from it when it's the last thing I want to do." Ayaka listened intently. "It's definitely affected my life. But just when I think I've made a friend who isn't associated with it all, they won't stop talking about...it." Ayaka probably thought it cryptic, Kenji mused, but as he opened his mouth to continue, there was a beeping sound.

"Sorry! My phone. I'm listening." The young woman pulled out her cell phone and checked it- she had a text message. Kenji went on as she read it,

_Gardenia, everything's in place. We have Elk, Balmung, Wiseman and Terajima Ryoko on the case. I'm standing by in case any extra help is needed. BlackRose hasn't replied. Elk might be a bit preoccupied. - Mistral_

It was strange, the sudden collision of virtual and real world, receiving a text from a character from an online game. But this made it all real. She barely took in a word that Kenji said for the rest of the meeting, things he had said earlier slipping from her mind as they parted.

Kenji wasn't the dullest tool in the shed. He noticed that Ayaka wasn't concentrating after that message, and he wondered what could make her lose her focus like that. Secretly, he was glad that she hadn't listened. He felt foolish complaining about everything and he reckoned that his rant didn't make sense because he didn't mention that he was talking about 'The World'. Heading home, he steeled himself for a meeting with Akira tomorrow.

* * *

Kenji stepped down off of the train and waved at the welcoming figure of Akira, and she greeted him just as enthusiastically. The weather outside was pleasant and a good night's sleep had rejuvenated his mood, and he spoke brightly,

"So what's on the cards for today?" Akira grinned evilly,

"My turf, my choice, right? So we're going to play sports." Kenji couldn't help but sweatdrop as she even cackled, snatching his arm and hauling him towards the exit and out into Yokohama. First they played tennis, with Kenji putting up a half-decent fight but losing badly to the tennis expert. Then Kenji was allowed to pick a sport. An hour later, he had scored 5 goals to Akira's 3, winning the soccer 'game'.

"One all, Akira-san! What now?" He teased, and she folded her arms, not rising to the bait,

"I bet you play soccer a lot, so technically you cheated just like I did." Suddenly Kenji's smile vanished and his expression was devoid of any emotion.

"Not really, any more." She was about to enquire as to what had bothered him when her phone rang,

"Sorry!" She answered it and he looked away in exasperation. Girls and their pestering and getting inopportune phone calls! Were they all the same? Akira sounded panicked, and he turned despite himself to watch her, "Ah no! Mayumi-san, I'm sorry! I totally forgot that I was doing something! You're already here? No, don't leave, you went to that effort to come here...is it alright if I bring my friend? Okay, meet you at the usual place?" She hung up, cheeks painted with red before bowing in apology, "I'm sorry, I'm being stupid today. I somehow completely forgot that we were meeting when I told my other friend that I could see her today. Is it alright if we go see her?" Kenji shrugged nonchalantly,

"Everyone makes mistakes." Then he dared to try a joke, winking tentatively, "If your friend is like you, it'll be no problem at all..." Then he mimed a thoughtful demeanour, raising a finger to his chin, musing, "If she's prettier, consider yourself forgiv- itai!" He suddenly squeaked, bending over and hands going down to massage his shin where Akira had ungraciously kicked it. She gave him the look that women are so fond of.

"Oi." Then she added, "You hardly look like a ladies' man," and he knew she was also joking. Her reaction, like a lot of things that she did, caused aimless deja vu to trouble Kenji's thoughts. Wincing, he muttered,

"Not only do you kick me in the shin and hurt me, but also you wound my pride," and she laughed before tugging on his arm again.

"Stop being a slowcoach and I won't have to kick you again." Kenji complied meekly as his shin throbbed. There would be a nice bruise forming there right now. They crossed the street and eventually came to a cafe on the corner. Entering, Akira took him straight through to the back where a table was occupied, sitting on a chair opposite her friend. Kenji sat as Akira introduced the woman,

"Kenji, meet Kurokawa Mayumi-san. Mayumi-san, this is Ishida Kenji, my new friend." Kenji looked up to meet Mayumi's eyes affably when he saw them shine with recognition. He froze instantly, a rabbit in the headlights. Sitting opposite them was the woman that had been at the New Year's Party, that he had recognised and announced his other identity to. He was sitting opposite Mistral the Wavemaster! As Mayumi opened her mouth, he prayed to Kami-sama...


	8. Of Dead Ends and Data Bugs

_A/N: It's been a while. Sorry. University got in the way! I can't believe that last time I posted a chapter, I hadn't even started at uni! A year's gone by in what seems like the blink of an eye, but now I'm at home for the summer, I have nothing but spare time in which to write. I thought I'd lost this chapter when my netbook crashed, but luckily I'd put it on google docs, so all I had to do was finish what I'd started! I hope this bumper chapter of just under 10,000 words makes up for my uselessness at any kind of regular updates. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Eight: Of Dead Ends and Data Bugs**

Mid-morning sunlight streamed through the window, causing the vase full of water to shine blindingly and the spider lilies in it to almost glow a vibrant red. Next to the vase was a large English-Japanese dictionary, with a reference of Celtic mythology terms placed haphazardly on top. To the right of this was a keyboard and behind it a monitor that was on standby. At the desk holding these items sat a woman with shoulder-length brown hair staring mindlessly down at a notepad full of bilingual scribbles. Screwed up balls of paper were strewn around and she came to slowly, realising she hadn't made any more progress on her work. Sighing and closing her eyes, she leaned back for a few minutes before reaching under the desk and fishing out an FMD. More paper was littered around, and as she brushed the sheets from her FMD and video game controller, she exhaled tiredly,

"_Yare yare..." _Setting them on her desk and considering what she was about to do, she smiled mischievously-

"You're procrastinating again." A deep voice made her jump out of her seat,

"Yaaah!" She spun around to see the emotionless demeanour of a tall, slim man with short black hair, hand on his hip.

"Not concentrating, hm." Then he edged closer to her, and as their proximity made the woman's cheeks slowly redden, he leaned over her shoulder to eye the notepad on the desk. She managed to murmur,

"Y-you're nosing about?" He examined it before stepping back and shaking his head disapprovingly, yet his face was still devoid of any expression.

"You're almost three-quarters of the way through the chapter. If you keep going, you'll be done by dinnertime." She nodded, her cheeks still a healthy pink, and he reached past her to seize the controller, brushing past her. As she nodded, slightly stunned, he pulled back and took the controller. "I'm taking this until you finish." She began to protest when he suddenly leaned in yet again and gave her a swift peck on the cheek, a small grin as mischievous as the woman's previous one spreading across his face. "Get working, dear." Then he turned on his heel and was gone, controller in tow.

"..." The woman raised her hand to her burning cheek before smiling coyly. It had been just over three years since they had moved in together and in that time, she had managed to influence her partner. He had gradually lost most of his sternness and seriousness (although Christmas was still a hard time for him, after _she _died) and she had become slightly more diligent. Only slightly. She eyed the FMD wistfully before turning to look out the window distractedly. The weather was pleasant and she could see people passing by in the streets below. She liked this apartment because it had a good view (in addition to the fact that it was quite spacious for an apartment and she could live with the man whom she had developed an infatuation with back then), and she admired the view, eyes roaming idly over passers-by. Then she spotted a girl with short brown hair dragging along a boy with spiky hair. She smirked as she watched the pair go. She recognised them from a previous time when she had dared to go and talk to them. After the legendary Descendents of Fianna came the dot hackers, and with some bribing she had discovered that one half of the main pair lived quite locally, so she liked to watch her inspiration go through city life when she was sat at her desk writing instead of translating. That boy resembled the other half of the pair, and she pondered whether they had successfully met up and started an offline romance reminiscent of her own. Returning to her place, she sat down with a newly-content mindset, picking up her pen and rereading what she had written earlier.

* * *

"Pleased to meet you, Kenji-kun." The woman smiled pleasantly, giving away no hint that she was a shrill, excitable treasure-seeker in another realm. Kenji struggled to keep his breath even and calm as he replied,

"Pleased to meet you, Kurokawa-san." Akira, oblivious to the awkwardness, happily grabbed a drinks list from the table. It was not that she was not observant- quite the contrary, Mayumi's eyes held no spark of recognition and Kenji's growing hysteria was tightly regulated by a face permanently stuck in "pleasant but detached" mode. The woman looked keenly at Kenji then at Akira, and Kenji inhaled sharply.

"Huh?" Akira looked up from the drinks menu, missing Mayumi's regard that could be taken as a secret signal. Kenji quickly apologised,

"Ah, sorry, knocked my elbow on the edge of the table." Akira shrugged and passed him and Mayumi a drinks list. Kenji watched carefully as the two females started to peruse the list before the gears in his mind whirred frantically. If Akira knew who Helba was, chances were that she played 'The World' on a regular basis. If she played that game on a regular basis, she would know who the PC 'Kite' was. If she found out, she would pester him and it would all be over. Either she would pester him to play again to get his member address and reap the fame and benefits of knowing such a famous character, or she would turn into Natsume (he shuddered) and cease to see him as her friend Kenji and only envision the bright orange clothing and red wave markings of the Twin Blade hero. And he couldn't cope with that, not after such a promising start.

"Ne, Kenji-san, how did you meet Akira-chan?" Mayumi enquired, charming and polite. Kenji shot her a look of desperation laced with the anger of a caged bird of prey. Akira frowned in confusion at the way he glanced at Mayumi and he hurriedly answered,

"Well, at a New Year's party-" Then he fell silent, remembering with horror that he had met Mayumi at the same place. He was waiting for her to spill the beans- they had already met and she knew who he was. With that concern invading his mind, he could only worry about what would happen. Mayumi nodded, appearing interested.

"I see, a new friendship at the start of a new year." Kenji nodded, a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead. Akira blithely nodded, a self-deprecating grin on her face,

"But it's like we've known each other for ages, at least, that's how I feel. He...he reminds me of someone." She raised her eyes to Mayumi and the older woman tilted her head enquiringly.

"Oh?" Kenji felt his heart hammer in his chest. Any minute now, it would be over. Akira would be pestering him for his member address. Akira laughed, embarrassed.

"It's stupid, I know. He reminds me of..._him._" Mayumi's eyes widened. Kenji frowned- Mistral was a straightforward Wavemaster who probably didn't even know what deception really was, and here was Mayumi acting as if she'd never set eyes on him before. The contradictions jarred in his mind and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Mayumi turned back to Akira and he felt left out.

"It is true." Mayumi nodded, but added, "But all the boys these days have hair like _his._" The poor boy couldn't continue to sit and watch the conversation. Excusing himself, he dashed outside to take in some air, leaning against the wall and slowly sliding down it, sitting against it, head tilted up to the sky as if it would help him breathe more easily.

Mayumi fanned herself with a hand, "It is certainly warm in here. Looks like he went to go and get some fresh air." Akira settled, concerns allayed. Then Mayumi changed tack, "Speaking of Kite, we've finished gathering people. Any day now everyone will be ready to search for him. The first stage is Orca." Akira looked down at the table, speaking at length.

"...Do...do you think I'm a coward, not searching for him? It must seem like I've abandoned him." Mayumi shook her head.

"You didn't abandon anyone. We all got that email from him. Wiseman described the person he thought that Kite had become, and from that picture, it was Kite that abandoned 'The World', not we who abandoned him. In choosing not to follow him, you're respecting what he wants. That takes a lot of courage, not to reach out to a drowning person because they will adamantly refuse to take your hand and even bite it." Akira looked up sharply, her eyes full of anxiety,

"Drowning person? You think he's at that stage?" Mayumi reached out, touching Akira's hand reassuringly.

"Not necessarily. It was just an analogy. But if or when people find him, or if he becomes aware that he's being searched for, it may throw him into the ocean, so to speak. I guess that the most that can be done is to offer a rope if he needs one. That's the most you can do, BlackRose-chan." Akira managed a wavering smile,

"Ah, we've neglected Kenji-kun. I'll go find him."  
By the time Akira emerged from the cafe, Kenji was on his feet, eyes still locked on the blue expanse of sky. He lowered his head to meet her gaze, a lot more relaxed. He was about to give himself up when she spoke first,

"Sorry, me and Mayumi-san started gossiping and forgot you were out here. Are you still overheated?" Kenji shook his head,

"I'm okay now. It's just that sometimes it gets too warm for me." He assumed that Mayumi had come up with that excuse. He came in, sat down and the trio had another round of drinks. The conversation meandered through many topics until mid-afternoon, when they rose to leave, firmer friends than before. Kenji left, relieved that his secret hadn't been divulged. But when he reached the train station, he realised that Mayumi had been following him all the way. As he waited for a train, he turned to her, "Are you following me on purpose?" Then, realising how defensive he sounded, he apologised, "...Sorry." Mayumi waved a hand brightly,

"No, no, I live near you, I think. That's why I saw you at the party." Then he filled the ensuing silence,

"Thanks. For not telling Akira who I am." Mayumi seemed caught off-guard and she stared into Kenji's eyes, bewildered.

"You know that she-"

"I had a feeling she played 'The World', and I don't need another person pestering me for a member address or to play the game. I don't know about now, but chances are in the past a lot of people recognised my username, so newbies would pester me now." Mayumi's expression fluctuated before finally settling on unreadable.

"So you aren't interested in her username?" Kenji shook his head wildly,

"Absolutely not, no. I don't play the game anymore, I'm not going round making new friends. You know that." She nodded slowly, contemplatively. They caught the train in silence and as the train passed through station after station, Mayumi seemed to reach a decision.

"Kenji. Kite." Kenji winced at the name,

"Yes?" She spoke resolutely, turning to face him, holding onto a pole tightly to stop her from falling if the train was too turbulent,

"You should know." She took a deep breath, "Your friends online are looking for you. They've decided to try and track you down after you sent that email to everyone." Kenji froze, paralyzed with panic. "Now, I don't know where you live, but I have a rough idea and I know what you look like. If you do not want me to tell them, I won't. It's as easy as that. I respect your right to privacy and to lead your life. You are your own person and the game doesn't have the right to have ownership over you." Kenji felt faint with gratitude, his knees weakening. But before he could thank Mayumi profusely, she continued, "But if they find you or they are on the right path, I won't nudge them astray. I'm not interfering." Kenji closed his eyes, steadying himself.

"...O...okay. If that's how it is, that's how it is." Then he thanked Mayumi, "Kurokawa-san. Thank you. For today. You could easily have bragged about who I was or told everyone where I was. I'm...I'm sorry that you had to lie for me and pretend you hadn't met me. I'm sorry for making you do that." Mayumi listened raptly. "I should have known that you were wise and that you'd do whatever was best. Even though you were Mistral..." She laughed and he chuckled quietly at the thought of the PC Mistral being anything like Mayumi. "Anyway, thanks." The following warm and heartfelt smile he levelled at her reminded her so much of Kite that she momentarily lost track of the conversation, lost in reminiscing. "Is...is BlackRose joining the search?" Mayumi blinked,

"Hm?" Kenji repeated himself softly and she shook her head slowly,

"No. I think she got the message that you preferred to keep yourself to yourself." There was no accusatory tone or language involved in the statement and he felt a little better about his choice. As the train juddered to a halt and the doors opened, Mayumi's voice echoed through the largely empty carriage and he paused in the middle of stepping off of the carriage. "Kite is not only a friend, but a protector. His Bracelet brought salvation to 'The World' and could root out Data Bugs. Consider that if needs be." He disembarked from the train in a daze, turning to watch the doors close. After a few minutes, he came to and realised that the next station was on the outskirts of Tokyo's main district, so Mayumi hadn't missed her stop. He made the rest of the journey home in uneasy silence.

* * *

In the Aqua Capital, the sky was nearing the dusky shade of twilight familiar to most players in the game. A lonely Wavemaster stood by the bridge, sighing every so often. Nobody had been online today except Moonstone, and it seemed that the scary-looking PC had been left to idle in Fort Ouph while the player behind it was occupied with other matters. Somehow, the FMD mirroring the Wavemaster's expressions in this realm managed to transmit the depression in his blood-red eyes, causing the odd player to stop and look at him before leaving him to his discontent. He didn't have the heart or courage to explain to them what was wrong anyway, and as he turned to watch the water flow unceasingly through the canals, his spirit continued to sink further. He hadn't even done anything today, just sat in Mac Anu waiting for anyone. BlackRose had contacted him to let him know that she couldn't help out today, so at least he knew that she wouldn't be around. Suddenly a Twin Blade rushed towards him, sounding slightly flustered,

"Elk, Elk, is that you? I'm here!" She stopped before him, turning to him and sounding enthusiastic about helping him, "I have some spare time tonight so I'm free to come with you." He looked at her, figuring out who she was. Her green-haired fringe almost covered her permanently-shut eyes and she was clad almost entirely in blue. Elk nodded, remembering that this was the Twin Blade who liked to hang around with Kite in root towns and on the odd adventure.

"Ano...Natsume, thank you." He timidly showed his gratitude. She smiled all too happily,  
"It's what friends do, right? And we're friends!" Elk frowned- there was something off about her attitude. It was an infinitesimal thing to notice, but his instincts made him slightly edgy. But he forgot it soon enough as Natsume was raring to go and there seemed to be nothing wrong, "But we need a third member just in case we run into monsters, I mean, it makes sense tactically. If I get KOed by a monster, it'll go straight for you and if you can't resurrect me, that's game over. If we have another fighter, it can draw the monster's fire, so to speak, while you can resurrect me and then we survive." The Wavemaster understood the logic and nodded in agreement. "But nobody on my friends list is online...I guess it's the holiday lull. People are busy spending time with their families because it's New Year. What about you?" Natsume asked, hand on hip. Elk shook his head,

"N-nobody's online for me either." Natsume seemed quite agitated at this, pacing to and fro. She seemed impatient to get going and and Elk shrank back, nervous at how frenetic all her actions and thoughts were. Normally she was easygoing and didn't talk a lot, at least from what Elk had seen. Then she paused, probably checking her friends list-

"Ah! Here, let me invite you and this other person into the party." Elk obediently accepted her party invitation and then attempted to check the party details-

_L37'5 PL4Y, N4T5UM3-CH4N~_  
Elk looked to Natsume, sweatdropping as a figure literally bounced towards them energetically. He had a microphone, whoever it was, but for some reason the voice recognition software the game used transcribed whatever he was saying into some unreadable cipher. Perhaps it was one of those custom hacks that some of the more advanced computer users liked to use just to annoy other players. Natsume shrugged apologetically,

"He was the only other person online." Finally he bounced right up to them, grabbing them in headlocks with each arm. He was taller than them, with the stature of a full-grown adult. He grinned maniacally, the scar on his cheek distorting slightly as he cried,

"_Why, aren't you two cute little thiiiings~!" _Before they could react he suddenly withdrew, jumping to stand in front of them, his back to them. Lifting a finger to his chin in thought, he murmured, "_But I expect they'd be stuck if PKing was allowed." _Then he shook his head, bangs of muddy green hair obscuring his face. "_No good." _Natsume, temper roused, shouted at him, shaking her fist,

"Oi! We're not useless, we're high-levelled!" He tilted his head, crimson eyes widening as he was distracted,

"_Ohoho?" _Then he leapt up into the air again almost quicker than the eye could follow, landing behind Natsume, katar blade at her neck. Elk gripped his staff and stumbled backwards as the PC toyed with her. "_Boing~ Lighten up, Naaatsume-chan, the only fun I have now they've taken away my favourite part of the game is teasing people like you!" _As she turned around in irritation, he jumped back and stood next to Elk. Then the new party member looked Elk up and down as if sizing up prey. The Wavemaster felt uncomfortable. "_...Tsukasa?" _The PC asked and Elk shook his head mutely. "_No... Well, nice ta meetcha." _Looking toward the Chaos Gate, hand shielding his eyes from the sun, he pointed at it with his other hand, "_Onward, my rookies~!" _Then he frowned. "_...where are we going?" _Natsume slapped her forehead in annoyance and Elk sighed. "_Geez, rookies, lighten up! We're going on an adventuuuuure~" _Natsume turned to Elk and Elk explained,

"We're l-looking for my friend Mia. Helba tried to track her down and found traces in a number of fields. The keywords...it's on the Dun Loireag server." Then Elk explained, "Oh, you probably don't know, Helba is-" The other Twin Blade suddenly was next to Elk, throwing a genial arm around his shoulder,

"_Ahhhh, that old lady is still going? Well, good for her!" _Then he lost interest, _"Your friend, is she pretty? 'Cause it'd be good to get her member address, oho!" _Elk was unsure what to say,

"Ah...w-well...she's a cat..." The black and purple-clad third party member tilted his head.

"_A cat..." _He opened his mouth as if to remark, but said nothing for a few moments. Natsume was about to ask if he was lagging when suddenly his PC reset. "_Dun Loireag, my favourite town! ...Apart from Carmina Gadelica of course," _he counted them on his fingers, "_And who can forget good ol' Mac Anu!" _His attention span immediately gave way, "_Let's go already! Come on, slowpokes, boing!" _He bounced to the Chaos Gate and Elk blinked. He had never met anyone quite like this player...but the name at the bottom of the screen was corrupted, and he couldn't quite read it. Natsume looked sorely annoyed.

"Urgh...what is wrong with him? He won't keep still, he almost attacked me and the whole time he's typing in that stupid numbers thing that they use on Internet forums! I can't believe he's coming along with..." Then she exhaled, muttering to herself, "No, no, no, that's now how to see it. I'm helping a friend and we're going to a field, don't have to think about Ki- him..." Elk ventured,

"H-how did you meet h-him?" Natsume shrugged, distracted by the distant form of their team-mate dancing around the Chaos Gate acrobatically,

"Kite's friend, he wanted my member address so we exchanged them." Then she began to go to the Chaos Gate when Elk dared to go further,

"U-uh, I didn't c-catch his name..." Natsume didn't seem to know the answer.

"He's called...well, it's been a while since we've played together. Something to do with the sky?" Then she groaned as the other Twin Blade ran away from an incensed Heavy Blade who had been provoked somehow, "At this rate, we'll be calling him _baka._"

* * *

Kenji sat on the park bench, hands behind his head, mulling over the events of the past few days. A lot had happened and his previously improving attitude towards everything was now muddled. He didn't know what to think or how to feel. Closing his eyes and leaning back, he reflected on the fact that Mayumi was a friend of Akira and that there was more to Akira than he currently knew about. She knew of the name "Helba" and Kenji realised that he hadn't asked how Mayumi knew Akira. Could it be that they had met in-game? It would explain the age gap between the pair. He felt his stomach flutter unpleasantly- did Mistral have many friends outside of his own circle, or could it be that Akira was behind a PC that he knew? Shuddering, he got up suddenly, remembering what Mayumi had said. They were out there...looking for him. He then proceeded to race home, throwing glances over his shoulder every few steps out of paranoia.

* * *

The student drew up to the school gates slowly, bag in one hand and soccer ball in the other. He stopped to wait for his friends, turning his back on the exit.

"Yasuhiko-kun, slow down!" He sighed as a boy in creased uniform ran towards him, tie loosened and blazer crumpled.

"You're always a slowcoach, Eiji." Eiji shrugged, strands of his fringe getting in his eyes. He brushed them out of the way as he met Yasuhiko's gaze.

"Maybe, but I don't see Tarou yet, so I'm not last!" He then grinned as Yasuhiko's demeanour changed from slightly irritated to resigned and as they waited for the third member of the group, he began to bounce the soccer ball off the tarmac ground almost like a basketball. After a few more minutes, a tall and stocky student wandered over to them at a leisurely pace.

"Sorry Yasu, Eiji, had to clean up a science experiment." Then he smiled smugly, "My partner was the one who caused the mess, but he was the one kept behind by sensei. He's going to get shouted at a lot." Eiji nodded somewhat restlessly,

"OK, that's good, good story. We should get going now, the new season of Space Ship Super Nova starts today and I have no intention of missing one second of it! Not even the new opening..." Yasuhiko shook his head as Eiji's eyes grew unfocused and he began to chatter about his favourite anime at length. Tarou looked across at Yasuhiko over Eiji's head with a wry smile.

"You heard the man, let's go." They walked out of the school gates shoulder to shoulder and as Eiji obsessed over his favourite character, Tarou continued to talk over him to Yasuhiko. "Doing much tonight?" Yasuhiko continued to bounce the soccer ball as he walked,

"Homework and more homework. Might see if anything's going on in 'The World'." Tarou seemed to grow more attentive as Yasuhiko caught the soccer ball.

"'The World'?" He repeated and his friend nodded. "Don't suppose you could help me level up? My Heavy Axeman could do with some refining...spirit resistance is terrible..." Tarou grimaced and as Yasuhiko raised an eyebrow, he added hurriedly, "Yes, I know your PC is one of the Descendants of Fianna, probably maxed out stat-wise, level ninety-nine, I was just hoping you could be a meat shield for me while I go pummel some monsters in a field way too tough for me to solo!" Yasuhiko grinned. If they had been in the school playground and around a lot of his peers, he would have frantically shushed Tarou for spilling his secret- that he was the player behind Lord Orca of the Azure Sea, one of the most famous characters in the game. His peers would have mobbed him and demanded his member address. Yasuhiko had only let Tarou in on the knowledge because he trusted his usually-taciturn friend not to tell everyone else or brag, and only after the Twilight Incident.

"Uh, I don't mean to poke holes in your plan, but I'm a Blademaster, not exactly a tank class. You're a Heavy Axeman, so shouldn't you be taking all the damage?" Tarou looked less than pleased with the idea and Yasuhiko let him stew in his unimpressed state for a minute or two before finishing, "Just kidding! If you want to head to a high-level field, I'd be happy to let monsters chase after me. It'll be a nice break from all this homework and soccer." Tarou shook his head disapprovingly as Yasuhiko's joke but smiled nonetheless, amused by it. Eiji looked up at all the talk of the game,

"Hey, you're doing some training? Mind if I join you?" Yasuhiko had initially had a lot of trouble with Eiji, swearing him to secrecy multiple times after Eiji found out that his best friend was a Descendant of Fianna. He had wanted to boast to everyone about his connections in-game, but thanks to Tarou's reasoning and Yasuhiko's intimidation and threats, he had kept it quiet. Yasuhiko looked to Tarou, who nodded,

"Sure. I was thinking of going to a field way above my level and taking Yasu of the Azure Sea here along to throw at the monsters while I gain lots of experience points." Eiji glanced upwards thoughtfully,

"Sounds awesome, but I'm a Heavy Blade and you're a Heavy Axeman. I think it'd make more sense for us to deal with combat and leave Yasuhiko-kun as healer." Yasuhiko nodded, enjoying this strategizing,

"A good point. You'll probably have more fun hacking away at the monsters, and it just so happens that I have a lot of powerful healing spells at my disposal...oh, and the one that revives people." His friends turned to glare jealously at him, wishing they owned equipment that bore the aforementioned highly useful magic. He merely smirked at the pair for a short time before Eiji started suddenly,

"We're wasting time! Let's go!" They had become engrossed enough in their discussion of 'The World' that they had stopped walking. Tarou nodded and they turned towards the road that they'd come to, waiting for the traffic to pass so they could cross. Suddenly, there was a distant roar and as they watched cars pass (Eiji bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently), it grew louder. Before long, the source of the noise appeared- a motorcycle thundered along the road and Tarou admired it as it came into view. Yasuhiko watched Tarou, recalling that the student was a fan of motorcycles and was always talking about learning how to ride one as soon as his parents would let him. What neither of them were expecting was for the motorcycle to slow as it reached them and pull over right in front of them, the rider not missing a beat. They both jumped back and Eiji blinked in confusion. The rider, decked from head to toe in leather, pushed up the reflective blue visor with one hand, other hand gripping the handlebar of his motorbike. Cool, bright blue eyes met the students' own as a male voice asked,

"Are you students of Tokyo East High?" They nodded wordlessly. "Tell me, do you know Nakano Yasuhiko?" Yasuhiko's eyes widened as the stranger named him and both Eiji and Tarou turned to look at Yasuhiko nervously. Then they stepped backwards in unison and as Yasuhiko cursed them mentally, the rider turned to look at him with a piercing gaze.

* * *

_"...So where are we going again?" _Natsume sighed as the other Twin Blade asked sheepishly. His attention span was so short that she wondered how on earth he'd managed to focus long enough to get to such a high level. Fighting monsters and trawling dungeons over and over took some concentration. She explained as patiently as she could,

"We're looking for Elk's friend Mia, so we're going to fields to find clues." The Twin Blade lifted a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"_Hum...she's a cat, right?" _Natsume nodded and his PC was motionless again. Elk approached and as Natsume frowned, commenting to the Wavemaster,

"If he lags like this in dungeons he's going to be a liability-"

"_Boing! Where are we going, cap'n?" _The Twin Blade's PC jolted as it reset and he leapt forwards, landing in a crouch just in front of Elk. Elk, taken by surprise, stumbled backwards as his party member stood up. To his credit, he managed to force out some words,

"I t-thought that we should go and look for c-clues." At the Twin Blade's expectant nod, he ventured nervously, "There was a field that I thought we should check...but it's d-dangerous." He watched his team's reactions carefully. Natsume raised her eyebrows, curiosity shown in her expression and the other Twin Blade grinned demonically. Twirling around hyperactively on one foot, he exclaimed,

"_Ah, how fun~ Where there's danger, there's me, and where there's me, there's danger, or my name isn't Sora!" _The other two party members noted their ally's name before Natsume asked,

"What do you mean, dangerous?" She was aware that the Wavemaster wasn't merely referring to a high-level field. Most, if not all of the dot hackers had become stronger while working with Kite and could fell the strongest monsters 'The World' had to offer without putting in too much effort. Elk explained,

"After everyone defeated Corbenik-" Sora twitched oddly at this and Natsume glanced at him. His PC had frozen again. "-Kite received an email from Aura." The Twin Blade continued to lag, twitching at various points in the explanation. "There were keywords, and we went to that field..." Then Elk began to stutter again, the memories of the field unnerving him, "B-but it was full of Data Bugs...all f-fifteen floors of the d-dungeon..." Natsume inhaled sharply.

"Fifteen floors?" Elk nodded, worry etched on his face.

"S-some monsters were normal, but some weren't...we couldn't have found Mia at the bottom of the dungeon without Kite." At the mention of Kite's name, something occurred within Natsume's mind and she growled,

"And he's abandoned us." Suddenly she started to stride briskly towards the Chaos Gate, "We don't need him. Let's go." Elk stammered in protest but Sora sprung into life once more, bouncing towards the Chaos Gate playfully,

"_Let's play, newbs~" _ When the whole party had caught up, Natsume looked at Elk expectantly and he input the keywords miserably, feeling pressured by her sudden ugly turn of mood. However, neither of them expected what ensued- a harsh warning sound and a message that appeared to them, '**PROTECTED: You cannot warp to this area**'. Elk seemed at a loss, turning to Natsume,

"W-when we went there with Kite, the field was open..." Natsume stood in silence for a few minutes, contemplating the situation before walking backwards to the steps leading down from the area containing the Gate and taking a seat there, disheartened. Elk hurried after her and mimicked her movements. With elbow resting on knee and head resting on her hand, Natsume sighed and murmured,

"I don't know what to do..." Elk had no idea either. They sat in depressed silence for a short while before-

"_Boing! Come on kids, time's a-wastin'!" _Sora reached down and ruffled Natsume's hair with his left hand and Elk's with his right. Natsume spoke angrily through gritted teeth,

"What are you doing? You saw the message, we can't go to the field we wanted to search for clues!" The ninja-esque Twin Blade shook his head,

"_Tch, so narrow-minded! Where there's a will there's a way, ne?" _He vaulted over them, landed in front of them and knelt down. His crimson eyes met those of his party members' and he probed, "_Don't suppose any of you rookies have any...special items?" _He winked. Natsume was about to raise a comment at his lack of subtlety concerning illegal items and the absurd assumption that everyone walked round with hacked possessions when Elk stood up suddenly,

"...!" Sora smiled victoriously. "I forgot! Helba gave me something!" The Twin Blade slowly rose to his feet, aura of curiosity detectable even to Elk.

"_How interesting...you rookies must be pretty important or special to be friends with that old lady. I take it back, kids, you're not rookies after all!" _Then he remembered what he wanted, "_Now, yes, what did she give you?" _Elk held out a hand and a luminous green hexagon appeared, floating above his palm. Natsume watched with bated breath. Was this one of the Virus Cores that Kite used to go on about all the time? Sora nodded happily. "_Bingo~ Mind if I?" _Before Elk could ask what he meant, the Twin Blade swiped it from him, ran between him and Natsume and came to a halt at the Chaos Gate.

"Hey!" Elk called and the pair followed him. Grinning at them like the cat that had just stolen the cream, he lectured them as if he were a distinguished professor teaching his students.

"_Alright you two, listen up!" _His eyes flicked sideways to check they were indeed listening before he continued, "_In the world of computers...in this virtual world, for every locked door there is a key. It's impossible for there to be a lock that's key-proof, right? Right!" _Natsume was very close to losing her temper- her current reserves of patience was small enough and this annoying character's lecture was the final straw. But Elk, perceptive enough to notice that Sora was about to help them along somehow, shook his head at her. She quelled her anger for his sake, surprised that for such a timid player he was so perceptive and that he'd suddenly become brave enough to command her rather than vice versa. "_Sometimes, they try to throw away the key so we can't open the door, see? But if you can find it then it's just a matter of figuring out how to use the key! Do we turn it clockwise? Anticlockwise? How many degrees do we turn it?" _Then Sora's uncharacteristic moment of concentration and more mature behaviour was over. "_Okay Tsukasa, what're the keywords?" _Elk, though confused by Sora getting his name wrong again, supplied them and Sora nodded. "_Team, stand back! Here goes, hiyum!" _He moved to stand in front of the rotating Gate as Natsume and Elk stood back, exchanging nervous looks. He held out both palms and the Virus Core appeared, hovering above them. "_Omega, Hidden Darkside Holy Ground~" _Sora spoke the keywords in a sing-song voice. Suddenly their surroundings grew dark, with the glowing Virus Core their only source of light. Natsume turned to look at Elk, who was bathed in sickly green light. The Wavemaster seemed hypnotised by the odd event, watching Sora closely. Without warning the walls that the Gate was enclosed by vanished. Mac Anu faded and they were suddenly left in a plane of pure darkness illuminated by the Virus Core. Natsume gasped at the sudden change. Was Sora...like Kite? The Virus Core vanished in a flash and the only thing remaining from Mac Anu, the Chaos Gate, began to glow in front of them. "_Hold on to yer hats, team!" _The light from the Chaos Gate grew to blinding levels and Elk shut his eyes fearfully. As Natsume raised an arm to shield her eyes, they gated out.

* * *

The leather-clad motorcycle rider wheeled his vehicle onto the sidewalk out of the way of traffic, putting on a parking brake to ensure it wouldn't topple over. Then he turned to Yasuhiko, reaching up and pulling off his helmet. Under the helmet was short jet-black hair which framed a slim face and further emphasised the rider's icy blue eyes. Leaving the helmet on the seat of the cycle, he looked down at Yasuhiko. There wasn't a huge height difference between them as Yasuhiko was somewhat tall for his age, but it was enough to leave the student intimidated.

"You're Nakano Yasuhiko-san?" Yasuhiko nodded nervously. He glanced at his friends. Eiji was watching intently and Tarou had a suspicious expression, ready to help out if anything happened.

"Excuse me, but who are you and how did you know my name?" The rider stood still, making no move as if to show he wasn't hostile or a threat in any way.

"My name is Aonama Takehiro, but you know me as Balmung." Yasuhiko stared in shock at the adult in front of him as Eiji exclaimed,

"No way!" Tarou looked from Yasuhiko to Takehiro several times before shooting a sharp look at Eiji. Eiji fell silent and realised what Tarou was hinting at. "Sorry!" He apologised sheepishly for his outburst and Tarou commented delicately,

"We can go." While Eiji had little knowledge of the past, Tarou had been told after the Twilight Incident and Yasuhiko's awakening that Balmung and Orca had been investigating the strange occurrences that led to the event, and assumed that the sudden appearance of the player behind Balmung was connected to possible in-game happenings. He guessed that they might want privacy while discussing whatever it was Balmung wanted to tell Yasuhiko. Turning to Tarou, Yasuhiko frowned. Balmung wouldn't have crossed the boundaries of the virtual world into reality unless it was serious.

"Why are you here?" Balmung- no, Takehiro understood why Yasuhiko demanded to know the reason for his presence in such a stern way. He was aware that Yasuhiko had never expected an offline meeting, especially not in this manner.

"It's about Kite." Takehiro spoke quietly. When Yasuhiko's eyes narrowed and he folded his arms in a way that suggested his mood had changed abruptly to confrontational, Takehiro was somewhat surprised, though he kept it well hidden with his stoic demeanour. Orca had mentioned on various dungeon runs that he and Kite had fallen out, but mostly the conversations consisted of him being nostalgic about when he and Kite used to do dungeon runs just after all the coma victims had awoken. He'd expected some kind of negativity in Yasuhiko's reaction to the name, but not an adverse reaction like this. He waited until Yasuhiko told his friends to go home without him until explaining, "He sent an email to everyone warning them about the game and trying to get them to quit. It worried some of us because it was uncharacteristic of him. It was the catalyst for the decision. All of the dot hackers want to find Kite and try and persuade him to return." Yasuhiko nodded, seemingly disinterested. "Or at least talk to him about his decision to quit."

"And you came to me because you wanted to find him." Takehiro nodded, but when Yasuhiko opened his mouth again to unleash rage, his in-game partner cut him off.

"I assume that you're unhappy about this situation. I realise that by sending me to talk to you about this, it's effectively emotional blackmail. Send Balmung to coax his most trusted friend into helping the cause." Yasuhiko seemed taken aback by this and Takehiro continued. "In truth, I volunteered, partly because I also have a desire to find Kite, but also because I wanted to find the truth. I know you two had a disagreement, you mentioned it to me at some point when we were in 'The World'." Yasuhiko shrugged nonchalantly. "But it's evident to me now that this disagreement was quite something by the way you reacted." Yasuhiko stood his ground initially, but as Takehiro waited, the teenager crumbled, hanging his head.

"OK, OK. It was a pretty bad fight. We stopped hanging out or even talking after it." Takehiko pursed his lips. So the argument had been more serious than he'd guessed. However, the man behind Lord Balmung of the Azure Sky had overcome tougher obstacles than this before.

"Well, we're all Descendants of Fianna, you, me, Kite. I may not have been so in the past, but I like to think that I've learnt how to be diplomatic. I'm sure we can work something out between you two." Takehiro then smiled encouragingly at Yasuhiko, who was surprised at this display of emotion. Then he recalled how Balmung had loosened up since the Twilight Incident, gradually beginning to joke around and relax with his closest friends.

"That'd be great...but there's a problem. I can't...find Kite." Yasuhiko watched the man's smile fade and his expression change into one of confusion. He had decided when Takehiro first mentioned Kite that he wouldn't give away the Twin Blade's offline identity, if only for the reason that a certain moody teenager would get really angry at him for leading the dot hackers to his door. Even a name could spell trouble for him. Hell had no fury like Kenji scorned. "The thing is, a while after we argued, his dad got a pay rise and then decided to buy a bigger house. They moved to another part of Tokyo, Ke- Kite transferred to another high school and...well, we didn't swap contact details." Takehiro took this in slowly, eventually nodding and Yasuhiko hoped that the Descendant of Fianna hadn't noticed him slip and almost reveal Kite's real name.

"So you don't know his new address or phone number?" Takehiro pressed him and he shook his head unhappily.

"Sorry." Takehiro looked up at the azure sky from which he gained his epithet in 'The World', musing over this development. As he turned back to his motorcycle, picking up his helmet, he looked over his shoulder kindly at Yasuhiko.

"It's alright. Not your fault. In fact, I should be apologising to you. I got your personal details from Helba without your permission, so in effect I stalked you. I'm sorry about that." Mood buoyed by Takehiro's confession and apology, he grinned back,

"Well, that would explain a lot. I'd hoped that Lord Balmung of the Azure Sky was more than a creepy stalker!" Takehiro paused for a moment, grimaced and then laughed heartily. Yasuhiko suddenly turned serious, "I hope you'll understand why I'm not getting involved in your search for Kite." Takehiro nodded slowly.

"I understand." He paused to pull the helmet over his head and hopped onto his motorcycle, wheeling it back out into the road. Turning to Yasuhiko once more, he spoke, "I'll email you my cell number. If you ever want to talk, I'll be at the end of a phone as long as I'm not shut away in the library writing essays." Yasuhiko smiled softly at the gesture. For a player as private as Balmung and still slightly distrustful, it was quite something. Then something occurred to him.

"Balmung...Takehiro-san...how old are you?" Takehiro chuckled at the question.

"I'm twenty, still at university. Do I really look that old?" Yasuhiko smirked.

"Well, yeah." Then something occurred to him and he began to laugh. At Takehiro's inquiring gaze, he explained through his laughter, "I bet you weren't expecting me to be this young! My PC-" He dissolved into laughter again before regaining control of himself, "-looks like he's thirty or something, and the voice changer makes him sound all gruff!" Takehiro nodded wryly.

"At first I didn't believe the information Helba sent me. I really did think you were my age at least!" With that amusing discussion finished, the leather-clad motorcyclist closed his visor and revved up his motorcycle. Yasuhiko waved as he zoomed off into the distance.

* * *

The trio appeared and as the golden rings encircling their PCs faded, the tall, green-haired Twin Blade looked around.

"_Hmm...looks like fun!" _Natsume shuddered, ignoring him as she studied the field. It was a night-time field and in the distance the grisly dungeon entrance stood, showing it was a flesh-wall dungeon by the bones adorning the opening that led down into it. She winced- 'The World' was so immersive and realistic that she had come to hate that type of dungeon with a passion. Who could enjoy the sickening squishing sounds that the player experienced when they ran over what seemed to be the fleshy stomach lining of some kind of creature that seemed as if it had swallowed them upon their entry into the dungeon? The way the walls pulsed as if the dungeon-creature was breathing... She looked to Elk to see how he was faring. He was gripping his staff in a very tight hold and biting his bottom lip, he took a step forwards.

"L-let's go straight to the d-dungeon." Then he began to run towards it and Natsume easily caught up, swiftest of the classes that the game had to offer. Sora pouted,

"_No fun." _However, he ran after them, catching them quickly. After a short while they had dodged Monster Portals and arrived at the dungeon entrance. Then Natsume turned to Elk.

"We have to have a strategy." Elk looked at her obediently, waiting for her to offer one. "I think Sora might be a hacker..." The Wavemaster nodded quickly, agreeing. The way they had bypassed the lock on this field seemed to suggest so. Sora had done it differently than Kite. Kite wasn't a hacker, but merely gifted with an item that allowed him to break system rules. There was no static or flickering and sudden teleportation to the field with Sora- he had a different method, one that seemed more sophisticated, visually at least. "If we should get into any trouble, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to get Sora to do something about it." Natsume turned to Sora to negotiate with him about his 'talent'- he had vanished.

Some way away, a Monster Portal glowed and activated. "_Uh oh." _Something emerged. "_'sgoingtokillyouuuuu!" _Sora ran towards them speaking very quickly. He passed them and continued to run.

"...what?" Natsume frowned in confusion and tried to decipher his words. Elk turned in the direction that Sora had appeared from and his eyes widened in fright.

"Natsume...N-Natsume...!" She finally figured out what Sora had gabbled and looked to Elk,

"What?" A sand-coloured mass stopped before them and Elk took a step backwards, now terrified. It was shaped like a barbell and in the middle of the barbell hung a strange golden bracelet. "...Oh." Natsume realised what was going on and twin daggers appeared in her hands. "Elk, get back and heal!" The Wavemaster reclaimed enough of his wits at Natsume's orders and lack of fear to retreat to a safe distance and stand by for when she needed healing. Ploughing forwards, she crossed the gap and began hitting the creature.

Sora watched the spectacle unfold, bewildered. How were those two newbs fighting that monster without even batting an eyelid? Didn't they know about it? Didn't they know what it could do to PCs and even the players in reality? He watched Natsume pummel it and the Guardian's tentacles lash out, striking her mercilessly. He watched Elk wave his staff and heal her. It was taking a while for the Twin Blade to whittle down the monster's health, but sure enough the monster was dying. Darting forwards cautiously, he drew level with Elk and called over to him,

"_You're telling me this thing isn't invincible?" _Elk shook his head mutely, eyes locked on Natsume's battling form and waiting to heal her again. Occasionally she would dodge a tendril but mostly she was taking hits as she was too busy slashing away at the monster to dodge. Then the bracelet in the middle of the creature began to glow, forming a spear. The only thing preventing Sora from running forwards to protect Natsume was his own sense of self-preservation, which for some reason screamed at him not to get killed, despite the fact that he was in a party so he would simply turn into a ghost and despite the fact that Elk could revive him with minimal effort. The completed spear was launched at Natsume and Sora closed his eyes- there was no scream, simply the sound of spells being launched. He opened them to witness Natsume unharmed and still fighting. The attack had taken a large chunk out of her health and landed her with some kind of status effect, but Elk had begun to cast a spell before he opened his eyes and as a result he didn't get to see which one it was before Elk's remedial spell rid Natsume of it. "_...it's not invincible..." _He whispered. As the Wavemaster cast another healing spell, he repeated himself slightly louder, "..._it's not invincible..." _Finally, Natsume felled the monster and the sandy gel-like substance that the barbell was made of faded. The bracelet fell to the ground, bounced once and then vanished too. "_It's not invincible!" _Sora shouted, throwing his head back and laughing at the sky like a madman.

"...Good job...Elk?" Natsume praised Elk hesitantly, staring at Sora. The Wavemaster shrank back from him as he finally stopped laughing. He lowered his head slowly, looked at the pair with narrowed eyes and then grinned like a serial killer.

"_...Looks like it's playtime!" _Then he ran towards another Monster Portal. Before Natsume could stop him, he'd activated it and was toying with another one of those monsters. At every strike of the tendrils that emerged from the circular parts of the creature, he simply leapt out of the way. His acrobatics were marvellous to behold as he struck the creature every so often, taunting it.

"He's completely mad..." She shook her head, exasperated. Elk ventured,

"He s-seemed really scared of that monster. I don't k-know why, but he asked me if it was invincible. It seems like he knows the monster..." Natsume noted this for future reference and let Sora bat it around a few more times before yelling,

"Oi! We're on a mission, we don't have time for you to play around with that thing!"

"_It's a Guardian!" _Sora's voice echoed back to them over the field smugly. Natsume clenched her fists and stormed over to him. Elk watched, wondering whether or not to warn Natsume to be careful as the Guardian continued in vain to try to attack Sora. She stopped behind him and as he bent his knees, about to vault over the Guardian, she grabbed his collar and ignoring his startled protests, dragged him back to Elk. The Guardian hovered after them, sending out tendril after tendril. Sora could only lean to either side or duck to avoid them, complaining that Natsume was leaving him a sitting duck. She motioned to Elk to follow her and dragged Sora with her into the dungeon mouth.

"_...but I was having so much fun!" _Sora grumbled and Natsume tuned back in as he finished. She'd been ignoring him for a few minutes as they stood in the first room of the dungeon and Elk was beginning to get fidgety.

"Sora, I don't care about how fun it is to mess with the Guardians or whatever it is. Listen." He sulkily folded his arms as she continued, "We're about to go through a tough dungeon. It's got fifteen floors. Not three. Not five. Not even ten. Fifteen. Understand?" He nodded. "We need you to work with us." He nodded again, still pouting. In hushed and cold tones, she hissed, "This is _important._ We are going to fight our way to the bottom of this dungeon and _we are not getting killed. _Understand?" He snapped out of it immediately, raising his hands defensively.

"_Whoa, okay, scary lady, I get it. Teamwork!" _Natsume exhaled slowly, attempting to calm herself.

"Good. Let's go." She took the lead and Elk followed, trying to ignore Sora lest Natsume shout at him too.

"_She's so bossy...and temperamental..." _Sora complained.

The three arrived in a large room, footsteps sounding squishy against the soft fleshy ground. Before them hung a Monster Portal. Sora made a move as if to run towards it but Natsume grabbed his collar again, holding him back.

"Look before you leap! This could be dangerous!" Sora looked at her, eyebrow raised quizzically.

"_What's it going to be, ten of those Guardians? Sure, they're tough nuts to crack but they're killable!" _Then he sprinted towards the Portal. It activated and a large monster appeared, leaving Sora dwarfed by its size. He took a fighting stance, only to pause as he heard his team mates inhale in panic from somewhere behind him. Looking up slowly at the strange form of the monster before him, he tilted his head, perplexed.

"That's no normal Astro King..." Natsume murmured as Sora began to notice the feature of the monster that had thrown his teammates. This monster was covered in patches of translucent, green hexagonal armour that had a sickly glow about it. Sora shrugged, took a step back and then leapt at the monster, slashing at it wildly with his katars in mid-air before landing in a crouch where he had started. The garbled HP display of the creature changed, but not to a figure that Elk or Natsume could read. Sora paused and seemed to take note of the HP. He stood motionless for a while, seemingly calculating and a strange thought occurred to Natsume. Sora's name display at the bottom of her screen was corrupted and she'd only found out his name because he'd spoken it. Was it possible that the corruption there was linked to the corruption of this Data Bug's name and HP? Could it be possible that he could read it? As Elk's frightened breathing grew ragged, she shook her head, clearing it of distractions. "Sora!" The Twin Blade, who had been content to dodge the corrupted monster's strikes and keep it away from his team, answered without so much as taking his eyes off the Data Bug.

"_Hm?" _He conserved his energy for dodging rather than forming sentences.

"Can we kill this thing?" After dodging a strike by the monster's bladed limb by less than a hair's width, he answered,

"_His HP is weird...like it keeps changing...it's one number this moment then changes the next!" _It seemed that Sora could see more than Natsume and Elk, but even he couldn't quite see through the corruption. "_But the PKer of Carmina Gadelica refuses to be beaten by this thing!" _Ignoring the fact that Natsume had never heard of anyone titled thusly, he was confident enough for her to believe that victory was possible. Laying a hand on Elk's shoulder, even though he couldn't feel it, she coaxed him out of his state of terror gently,

"Come on Elk, you heard him. We can win this. You just need to keep us alive." Elk's dilated pupils slowly returned to normal as the worst of his fear vanished. Nodding, he watched Natsume charge forwards and readied himself to heal her and Sora. The pair hacked away at the monster, occasionally taking a hit and as soon as they did, Elk cast restorative magic. While it seemed as if they were making progress at taking down the Data Bug, they had no way of telling whether they'd harmed it at all. Suddenly the area darkened and a red arcane circle appeared beneath the monster. "It's casting a spell!" There was a terrible roaring sound as a bulky being appeared above the monster.

"Vulcan!" Elk identified the summoned elemental deity as it spewed fire, seriously harming the entire team. As he hurriedly raised his staff to heal the party, the Data Bug swung a bladed limb at Natsume. "No!" He cried. Natsume froze as the Data Bug moved to attack her. The Data Bug was about to kill her and without Kite's protection, it would doubtlessly place her into a coma. All she could do was watch as time seemed to slow and the monster swung at her.

Sora's eyes narrowed.

"_Bingo."_


End file.
